HEZBOLLAH CRITIC SHOT FIVE TIMES IN BRAZEN KILLING

A prominent Lebanese Shi'ite publisher who criticized the Hezbollah movement was shot dead in a car in southern Lebanon on Thursday.

A judge said the body of Lokman Slim had four bullets in the head and one in the back. A security source said his phone was found on the side of a road. They said the motive was unclear.

Slim, shown, who was in his late 50s, ran a research centre, made documentaries with his wife and led efforts to build an archive on Lebanon's 1975-1990 sectarian civil war.

He spoke against what he described as the Iranian-backed, Shi'ite Hezbollah's intimidation tactics and attempts to monopolize Lebanese politics.

His sister suggested Slim had been murdered because of this. He was last seen after visiting a poet friend. His wife said he had gone missing overnight.