Lebanon observes day of mourning following the murder of local leader Pascal Sleiman

The General Secretariat of Catholic Schools in Lebanon has declared the closure of all its educational institutions this Friday, announcing it as a "day of prayer for the salvation of Lebanon." 

This comes just six days after the murder of Pascal Sleiman, head of the Lebanese Forces (LF) office in the Jbeil district. A funeral mass is set to be held today at Saint George's Church in Jbeil, officiated by Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Raï.

The statement from the Catholic schools, which was echoed by several local media outlets, "strongly condemns the acts of murder and any violation of human dignity" as well as "the prevailing security disorder" in Lebanon, signaling a tense period following the incident.

Two days after Sleiman's disappearance, the Lebanese Army reported that he had been killed by Syrian mafiosos, a claim contested by the LF who see it as a "political assassination until proven otherwise ».