Lebanese army identifies sergeant killed by extremists
Lebanon's military says it has identified the remains of a soldier beheaded by Islamic militants.
The army said on Wednesday that DNA tests confirmed that the body is that of Sergeant Ali Sayid. He was decapitated by Islamic State militants, with photos posted on social networks on Aug 28.
The body was handed over to military officials on Monday after negotiations with the militants.
Sayid disappeared from Lebanon around the time militants from Syria attacked the Lebanese border town of Arsal in early August, killing and kidnapping soldiers and police officers.
The militants included fighters from the Islamic State group and the al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front. The incursion was the most serious spillover of violence into Lebanon from Syria's civil war.
Hundreds of angry mourners walked alongside the body of Sayid on Wednesday in a furious funeral march, accusing the government of neglect for failing to negotiate his safe release.
"He was betrayed by all the politicians, all of them! By parliamentarians and officials, and by the country. He was sold for a cheap price!" his father thundered at the funeral in a tearful speech carried on Lebanese television.
AFP-AP
(China Daily 09/04/2014 page11)
