Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Strangled & dumped by side of the road
UK embassy worker raped in Beirut
A BRITISH diplomat has been raped and murdered in Beirut.
Rebecca Dykes, who was in her 30s, was found dead at a motorway in the Lebanese capital where she worked.
She had been strangled then thrown from a moving car.
Last night a spokesman for her family said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened.”
Embassy worker Rebecca had been out drinking with friends and colleagues in the Gemmayzeh district of the Lebanese capital on Friday and left alone shortly after midnight. Her body was found on Saturday morning close to the Metn expressway.
Pals have been paying tribute. Bilal Al Ayoubi tweeted: “Such sad news to hear about the great loss of Rebecca Dykes. She was such a sweet and kind lady who took her job seriously and cared about Lebanon’s stability.”
Rory Kirkwood added: “Rebecca Dykes was a friend, from school and since, but not remotely as close to me as to others. I’m devastated by the news, and can’t imagine the pain some are feeling right now. My thoughts go out to them.”
British ambassador to Lebanon, Hugo Shorter, said: “The whole embassy is deeply shocked and saddened by this news. My thoughts are with Becky’s family, friends and colleagues for their tragic loss. We’re providing consular support to her family and working closely with Lebanese authorities who are conducting a police investigation.”
Rebecca’s body has been transferred to the Dahr al-bashak Hospital for a postmortem.
She had worked at the British Embassy in Beirut as the policy and programme manager for the Department for International Development since January. She was involved in a
FRIEND OF DIPLOMAT REBECCA
series of jobs for DFID and Foreign Office including helping Libya and Iraq.
On her Linkedin profile, Rebecca described herself as: “Experienced Policy and Programme Manager with a demonstrated history of working in the government administration industry.
“Skilled in Conflict, Humanitarian, International Relations, Non-governmental Organizations (NGOS), Civil Society, and Humanitarian Assistance.
“Strong community and social services professional with a MSC International Security and Global Governance focused in International Relations and Affairs from Birkbeck, University of London.”
Rebecca went to Malvern Girls College in Worcestershire and then studied Social Anthropology at Manchester University where she graduated with a 2:1.