DUBAI: Police announced yesterday that they have arrested a 39-year-old Arab man suspected of murdering the Lebanese singer Suzan Tamim.
The suspect had fled the emirate less than two hours after committing the crime. Police said the man was arrested three days after the murder. No details were given about the man’s nationality or the country where he had fled to.
Maj. Gen. Khamis Mattar Al-Mazeina, acting chief of Dubai police, said at a press conference that the killer had slit the singer’s throat and that she was not stabbed, as was widely reported.
Al-Mazeina said Tamim did not know her killer, who was dressed as an Asian man when he visited her apartment at Burj Al-Remal tower in the Dubai Marine area. The killer then tricked his way in by claiming he was from her estate agent and showed her a forged letter. After entering her flat, the man slit her throat and changed his blood stained clothes before leaving the UAE.
The singer had arrived in Dubai just 10 days before her murder on July 28. Her body was found in the living room of her apartment. Tamim had been living alone in the building for the past eight months.
Born in 1977, Tamim shot to fame after winning the Lebanese talent show Studio Al-Fan in 1996. She enjoyed many hit singles during her early career. Her turbulent life, however, made more headlines than her music.
Her first marriage to Ali Mouazanner ended in a public divorce. This was followed by another failed marriage to her business manager, Adel Maatouk. He had made allegations that she had tried to kill him in 2004. Matook still claims to be Tamim’s legal husband as he had not divorced her.
During an interview with Al-Arabiya, Tamim’s father, Abdul Sattar Tamim, claimed he knew who the killer was and believed she had been the victim of a contract killing.
