Body of murdered singer flown back to Lebanon

Family and friends of Suzan Tamim gathered to bury the murdered Lebanese singer at a Beirut mosque yesterday. Distraught relatives laid to rest the body of Tamim, who was found dead in her Jumeirah Beach Residence flat last week. Her body was flown back from Dubai yesterday morning. Tamim, who was 31, was the victim of a knife attack at around 9am on Monday last week, according to Dubai Police. Her throat had been cut and she had been stabbed many times on the face and body. The night before her body was found, Tamim had a late-night gathering, with about 20 guests partying until the early hours of the Monday morning. Her body was found after friends and family grew concerned when they could not contact her all day. Police investigations are ongoing and no one has been arrested for her murder so far. On Saturday her father Abdul Sattar Tamim, along with her brother, arrived in Dubai to make arrangements for flying her body back to Lebanon. They met senior detectives at Dubai Police headquarters. Police have said Tamim's father provided information that narrowed the list of suspects in the case, but have refused to disclose the details. Days after his daughter was murdered Mr Tamim claimed he knew who her killer was and believed she had been the victim of a contract killing. In an interview with Al Arabiya satellite television he hinted that he had documents and evidence to prove that a hit man had killed Tamim and that he would hand over all evidence to Dubai Police. Tamim was never far from controversy throughout her career. A graduate of the prestigious Studio Al Phan, an academy that nurtures up-and-coming pop stars in Lebanon, she signed a recording deal in 1996. However her private life rapidly began to overshadow her career as one of the region's brightest young singing talents. Her estranged husband and former manager, the Lebanese record producer Adel Maatouk, accused her of stealing $350,000 (Dh1.28 million), for which she was arrested by Interpol in Egypt in 2005. Months later she faced allegations of being involved in a heroin smuggling ring with her father, and she was accused, again along with her father and an Egyptian businessman, of attempting to murder Mr Maatouk, who escaped unhurt after gunmen fired on his car in a Beirut suburb. garis@thenational.ae * With agencies