Lebanon murder inquiry arrest after UK woman’s death

Rebecca DykesImage copyright
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Police in Lebanon investigating the murder of a British woman who worked at the UK embassy in Beirut have arrested a man, a source has said.

Rebecca Dykes’s body was found on the side of a motorway on Saturday.

She had been strangled, the BBC was told by police sources, who said the suspect worked as a taxi driver.

Her family said in a statement: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened.”

They added: “We request that the media respect our privacy.”

Ms Dykes, who is believed to have been 30, had been working in Beirut as the programme and policy manager for the Department for International Development since January 2017.

It is thought Ms Dykes had spent Friday evening at a going-away party for a colleague in the popular Gemmayzeh district of Beirut, the BBC’s Middle East correspondent Martin Patience said.

After leaving the bar at about midnight it appears she was abducted. Her body was found close to a motorway on the outskirts of the city.

The suspect was arrested in the early hours of Monday morning.

An official told the Reuters and AFP news agencies the preliminary investigation had showed Ms Dykes’s killing “was not politically motivated”.

Who was Rebecca Dykes?

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Image caption

Rebecca Dykes had been working in Beirut since January 2017

Prior to her posting in Beirut, Ms Dykes worked with the Foreign Office as a policy manager for its Libya team and as an Iraq research analyst.

According to her LinkedIn profile, she studied anthropology at the University of Manchester, and had a Masters in International Security and Global Governance from Birkbeck, University of London.

She was a former pupil of Malvern Girls’ College and Rugby School, and had also taught English at a Chinese international school.

Ms Dykes had reportedly been due to fly back to the UK for Christmas. She says on social media that she is from London.

Local police say a second post-mortem examination is to be carried out later.

Hugo Shorter, the British Ambassador to Lebanon, tweeted that the whole embassy was “deeply shocked” and “saddened” by the news.

A DfID spokesman said: “Our thoughts are with Becky’s family and friends at this very upsetting time.”

The Foreign Office said it was in contact with the Lebanese authorities following the death of a British woman in Beirut.

Lebanon murder inquiry arrest after UK woman’s death}