The case regarding the disappearance of mosque imam Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai in Lebanon has ended tragically. Reports indicate that his body was found murdered in the Ayyoun Al-Samak area, in the north of the country. It has been learned that the Information Branch of the Internal Security Forces arrested a group of suspects related to the crime, while others have gone into hiding.
Media sources pointed out that there is currently no "political or security background" to the crime; rather, it is described as having "family-related motives." It was reported that the kidnapping and murder resulted from personal disputes between the victim and some of his relatives in the town of Al-Qarqaf in Akkar. The security agencies have "informed higher authorities of this news" but hesitated to announce it until the army and security forces deployed in the victim’s town to prevent possible retaliatory reactions.
Five days after the kidnapping of Sheikh Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai, the "strike force" of the Information Branch raided the home of the mayor of Al-Qarqaf, Yahya Al-Rifai, where he, his son Ali, and his nephew were arrested.
The Information Branch managed to uncover the background of the kidnapping and murder of Sheikh Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai, as well as contain the repercussions of the crime on overall stability in the villages and towns of Akkar.
The details of the case were revealed through several steps:
- Monitoring the victim's phone calls and movements since his departure from his home in Al-Qarqaf, where his phone was first tracked at Halba Hospital after he provided financial assistance to a patient. He then moved to Al-Baraka Mosque in Beddawi, where he performed the Maghrib prayer.
- Following that, Sheikh Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai moved to the port street in Tripoli behind the Arab League building, then to the Al-Bahsas area at the entrance of Tripoli.
- He then moved to the Ras Masqa area in the Koura district, specifically at Wadi Hab, which connects Koura to Abu Samra.
- A mask and gloves with blood traces were found behind the Arab League building, which led to the discovery of their source.
Based on these findings, the strike force of the Information Branch moved towards Al-Qarqaf at midnight on Friday. They raided the home of Mayor Sheikh Yahya Al-Rifai, where he was arrested along with his son Muhammad and nephew Abdulkarim Muhammad Al-Rifai, the latter being a member of the strike force.
Information indicates that the mask and gloves belong to Abdulkarim. The Information Branch managed to arrest Yahya Al-Rifai's son in the town of Bbeen, after which everyone was taken for interrogation. The mayor was released in the evening but was then re-arrested the following Saturday morning.
During the investigations, Al-Rifai confessed to killing Sheikh Ahmad, with the assistance of his cousin Abdulkarim. Investigations are ongoing to ascertain the location of the body, which took some time to confirm, including the site of the body in Ayyoun Al-Samak.
Reports mentioned that four individuals were directly accused of involvement, three of whom are from the Al-Rifai family and the fourth from the Al-Miqati family. They confessed that the motives for the crime related to previous disputes over municipal and property affairs.
The conflict story in the town of Al-Qarqaf in Akkar, specifically between Sheikh Yahya Al-Rifai and Sheikh Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai, is not a recent development. The conflict began in 2012, when several villagers filed official complaints against Mayor Yahya, accusing him of squandering public funds, illicit enrichment, transforming public projects into private investments, and selling properties in the town. With the escalation of complaints and objections, the disputes developed into clashes and confrontations, including the burning of Sheikh Ahmad Shaib Al-Rifai's car by unknown individuals in June 2019.
