Israel 'collaborator' Amer Fakhoury who was smuggled out of Beirut dies at US residence

Amer Fakhoury, a Lebanese-American man accused of running a detention and torture camp on behalf Israel during its occupation of Southern Lebanon has died at his US residence, Lebanese media reports said on Monday.

Fakhoury, 57, died in the United States, where he had been fighting lymphoma cancer, reports said, without disclosing further detail.

Fakhoury was held in Lebanon while he was visiting family after spending decades in the US, before being evacuated from the country by a US marine helicopter in March. 

Lebanon's intelligence service said he confessed during questioning to being a warden at Khiam Prison.

The dual US-Lebanese citizen was known as the "Butcher of Khiam" for his alleged involvement in torture during the civil war.

He had been slapped with a travel ban, which was defied by the US marine, after the country threatened to impose sanctions over the US citizen's detention.

Read also: South Lebanon Army: Return of war-time 'collaborator' shines spotlight on brutal legacy of Israel's militia

Fakhoury was released from the detention on the basis that over 10 years had passed since he allegedly tortured prisoners at the jail run by the Southern Lebanon Army militia allied with Israel.

Fakhoury became a US citizen in 2019, and owned a restaurant in Dover, New Hampshire.

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