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Security forces found on Friday the vehicle of Sheikh Ahmad Rifai, missing since Monday, near Haykal hospital in Koura (North Lebanon), a source from the Internal Security Forces (ISF) told L’Orient- The day.

Our correspondent in the region Michel Hallak reports that the FSI have set up a security cordon around the vehicle and are searching it for clues. A photo of the vehicle, an SUV, shows that its license plates have been removed.

Known for his critical stance towards Hezbollah and other pro-Iranian groups in Lebanon, Mr. Rifai hails from the village of Karkaf in Akkar, in northern Lebanon. He was last seen in Tripoli on Monday evening.

Sheikh Rifai is the imam of the Ahmad Rifai Grand Mosque in Karkaf and he is known for his criticism on social networks of the “moumanaa”, a pro-Iranian political axis which includes Hezbollah. According to some local media, the sheikh’s last sermon during a prayer was about drug trafficking in areas under Hezbollah’s influence.

The sheikh’s brother, Ibrahim Rifai, told L’OLJ that Ahmad left Karkaf by car on Monday and performed evening prayers in the el-Baraka mosque in Beddaoui, Tripoli. He then headed for Mina around 7 p.m., before disappearing in the vicinity of the branch of the Arab University of Beirut located in this locality.

Shortly before the discovery of the sheikh’s car, a committee monitoring the case called on the security forces to “issue statements” specifying whether or not they were holding Ahmad Rifai. The committee also asked the outgoing Prime Minister Nagib Mikati to “intervene personally and quickly, in order to follow up the case with the police and to endeavor to close this file in a way that guarantees the safety of Sheikh Ahmad and to bring him back safe and sound”.

After meeting Mr Mikati on Friday, a delegation from Dar el-Fatwa said it “urges everyone to be ready to demonstrate and do what is necessary when needed”. According to our correspondent, the first investigating judge of North Lebanon Samaranda Nassar has taken up the case and must go to the Koura to inspect the vehicle.

The mufti of Akkar, Zayd Zakaria, had held an emergency meeting on Tuesday in the presence of Sunni deputies from the region, Mohammad Yahia and Mohammad Sleiman. Several religious leaders from the region, including those belonging to other faiths, were also present, according to the National News Agency (Ani, official).

The people present at this meeting contacted the mufti of the Republic Abdellatif Deriane, who assured “follow the case himself with the security forces”. On Thursday afternoon, residents of the village of Karkaf again blocked the main road to Mouhammara in Akkar, calling for the fate of Sheikh Ahmad Rifai to be clarified.