Lebanon security forces have arrested a man over the killing of 10 people including his wife, two brothers and two Syrian children.
Lebanon's National News Agency identified the suspect as Mazin Harfoush, and said he was arrested overnight.
The country was shocked by the discovery on Tuesday of nine bodies near the village of Baakline in the Chouf area south-east of Beirut, in what Prime Minister Hassan Diab described as an "appalling crime".
"Police found the perpetrator at 2am hiding in the garden of a home in the area of Ainbal near Baakline and detained him," a judicial source told the Agence France-Presse news agency.
"He admitted that he suspected his wife was cheating on him with his brother, so he decided to stab her to death in the marital home," the source added.
The man then invited his brother to join him on a hunting trip to the Baakline river, the judicial source said, where he killed him with a hunting rifle. His body was the 10th to be discovered.
The wife's family has denied accusations against her, in a statement published by local media. Here funeral was being on Thursday, NNA said.
The man went on a rampage after shooting his brother, killing anyone in his path, including six Syrians – among them a man and his two boys – and another brother, the source said.
Local media said another Lebanese man was also killed.
The hashtag #Baakline was trending on social media on Thursday, with users condemning the mass killings.
"Down with disgusting male excuses. He is a criminal and a killer," women's rights activist Hayat Mirshad wrote on Twitter.
The grisly events come as Lebanon is under lockdown to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus, and grappling with its worst economic crisis since the 1975-1990 war.
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
