Lebanonupdated 14m ago2 min read
MapLebanese Authorities Investigate Ahmed al-Alwani Death in Beirut After Iraqi Ambassador Says Judge Appointed
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Lebanese authorities are investigating the death of former Iraqi MP Ahmed al-Awlani in Beirut. Al-Awlani's body was found in a Beirut apartment after an alleged kidnapping.
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Beirut body, identity disputed
Lebanese authorities opened an investigation after a body believed to be former Iraqi parliamentarian Ahmed al-Alwani was found in an apartment in Beirut’s Tariq al-Jadida neighborhood, with Iraqi Ambassador to Lebanon Mohammed Reda al-Husseini saying Lebanese authorities had appointed a judge to oversee the case. DNA testing was needed to confirm the identity of the body because of its condition, and Alwani’s media office denied that he was in any hotel on the day of his arrival.
Al-Awlani’s media office said surveillance footage showed several people leaving an apartment associated with Alwani about 14 minutes after his plane landed at Rafik Hariri International Airport on November 5, and it called for investigators to identify the people in the recordings and find their connection to the apartment. The Iraqi Embassy in Beirut was waiting for the final report from Lebanese security services to announce the circumstances of the murder, after Alwani’s family told the embassy they had not heard from him for four days and his phones were switched off.
Timeline, alleged luring
Al-Awlani’s media office said he arrived in Beirut coming from Erbil on Thursday afternoon, November 5, 2026, and it said his last contact was at 9:05 p.m. when he informed his office of his arrival at his residence. Al Jazeera Net said the media office urged Lebanese authorities to identify the suspects, review the cameras, and cross-check the call records, while it also called on the Iraqi government to intervene urgently and coordinate to uncover the perpetrators.
Al Jazeera Net said Iraqi activists and political circles ruled out the possibility that the incident was a mere robbery, describing it as a “carefully orchestrated operation and a luring that ended in an assassination of political character with considerable political and tribal weight.” An-Nahar said the file was in the hands of the Lebanese judiciary, which would determine outcomes including whether the crime had political backgrounds or not, and it quoted an Iraqi political figure prominent in opposition to Iran saying, "the crime was expected".
Suspicions, detainees, stakes
Three people, including two Syrians and a Lebanese national, rented the apartment where al-Awlani’s body was found in the neighborhood of Tariq al-Jadideh for two days in exchange for $200, and initial information indicated he had been beaten on the head before being strangled. Suspicion reached Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and five Hezbollah members have been detained and are under investigation in connection with the case, while no official results confirming their involvement have been announced.
MP Ahmed al-Khair warned that "There are security accumulations that have occurred recently that do not bode well," and he argued that Lebanon’s reputation abroad had been severely damaged during wars and that building a state toward true sovereignty was the hope. The Jerusalem Post said the case has attracted attention in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and numerous Arab media outlets, and it said Lebanese authorities had not issued an official statement identifying suspects or detailing the circumstances of his death.