A Lebanese cleric and his brothers have murdered a man and mutilated his body in a method calling to mind the gruesome executions of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS), Lebanese media reported.
The incident in the northern district of Dinniyeh followed a verbal dispute between the cleric, Khalil al-Dhaibi, and the victim, Mohammed al-Dhaibi, over a "blasphemous slur".
Al-Jadeed television said the cleric and his brothers "stabbed the man to death, mutilated his corpse and threw him on the side of the road near the town of Burj al-Yahudiyah".
The victim’s brother told Al-Jadeed the incident began when his brother used a slur over prices at a supermarket, and the cleric accused him of apostasy.
"The cleric then brought his brothers and they ambushed my brother on the road,” he said.
"They mutilated his body," he said.
Internal Security Forces said the victim "insulted the cleric and cursed God" and that both men and the cleric's brothers used knives in the quarrel.
"The ISF's Intelligence Branch arrested one of the brothers in hospital after he was wounded, while the two others have turned themselves in to the branch,” the statement added.
According to Al-Jadeed, the cleric is the imam of a mosque in the northern area of Deir Amar, and has turned himself in to security authorities.
