03 September 2011
BEIRUT: A Lebanese Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya activist was strangled to death in Britain Friday, an official from the group told The Daily Star.
Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya official Hajj Omar Sraj said Sheikh Maimoun Zarzour, the imam of Dar al-Riayah al-Islamiya in London, was strangled in the early hours of the morning by an Algerian assailant.
Zarzour, who hails from the town of Shehim in Lebanon’s Iqlim al-Kharroub region, was blind and in his 40s.
Zarzour’s friend in London, Mohammad Kezbar, confirmed Sraj’s version of the murder and added that investigations were under way by British police.
He added that preliminary information suggested that the assailant suffered from mental problems, stressing that no political motives were behind the murder.
“The imam was loved by his community,” Kezbar said.
According to Kezbar, the murderer surrendered to the police after he committed his crime.
Kezbar said the assailant was among the worshipers during the early morning hours after which he asked to meet with Sheikh Zarzour to discuss his problems.
Sraj called on Lebanese authorities and London’s local police to carry out the necessary investigations to reveal the circumstances behind the murder.
Zarzour survived an assassination attempt near his house in Iqlim al-Kharroub in 2007 after which he left to London.
Zarzour was the iman of Al-Badawi Mosque and Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya official in Shehim from 2002-06 before he headed the group’s social committee between 2007 and 2009.
As soon as reports surfaced concerning his death, local delegations and supporters of Al-Jamaa al-Islamiya headed to his hometown residence to express solidarity and pay condolences to his family.
Copyright The Daily Star 2011.
