Tragedies In The Music Industry (middle east edition)
going to highlight on three of my favorite Arabic stars .. they are no longer with us
Suzanne Tamim
Lebanese singer who rose to fame in the Arab world after winning the top prize in the popular Studio El Fan television show in 1996. She was murdered brutally in Dubai in July 2008.
Suzanne Tamim was found murdered in her apartment in Dubai on July 28, 2008. Although it was reported that she had been beheaded, the lawyer of her former husband revealed that her death certificate indicates her throat was slit. At the time of her death, she had reportedly been married to Iraqi-born British kickboxing champion Riyadh Al-Azzawi for about 18 months.
Thekra
one of the most sucessfull and respected in the middle east
On Friday November 28, 2003, she was murdered by her Egyptian husband, businessman Aiman Al Swaidi, who shot her four times in their home in Cairo. Aiman had also shot her secretary, business manager and then committed suicide.
Asmahan
was an Arab Druze singer and actress of Syrian origins who lived in Egypt. Having immigrated to Egypt in childhood
Role in World War II
n 1941, during World War II, Asmahan returned to the French Mandate of Syria (Syria, then under the rule of Vichy France) at the request of the British and the Free French. She was on a secret mission to notify her people in Jabal al-Druze that the British and Free French forces would be invading Syria through their territory, and to convince them they should not fight. The British and Free French had promised the independence of Syria and Lebanon to all inhabitants on the date of the invasion. The Druze agreed, even though some groups did not receive word in time and fought the invading forces. After the Allies secured Syria during the Syria-Lebanon Campaign, General Charles de Gaulle visited Syria. When the Allies failed to carry out their promise for Syrian independence, Asmahan tried to contact the Nazis in Turkey, but was stopped at the border and sent to Lebanon. It was also possible that Asmahan needed money because her husband had cut off her expenses, so she may have tried to reach the Germans simply to obtain funds.
Asmahan told Mohamed al-Taba'i that she was to receive the sum of £40,000 from the British for her services to the allies. General Charles de Gaulle's representative in Cairo was General Georges Catroux. Catroux's délégué in Damascus, Colonel Collet, stated that the British gave money to Asmahan (and to other Druze men, in his presence) and sent her to the Jabal to secure the support of the Druze before the Allies' invasion. The same information is stated by Edward Spears in his memoirs.
On 14 July 1944, a car carrying Asmahan and a female friend crashed and went into a canal at the side of the road, after the driver lost control near the city of Mansoura, Egypt.The car was a two-door model and the women were sitting in the backseat. They were presumed to be rendered unconscious and subsequently drowned. The driver, however, managed to escape.
These circumstances gave rise to many suspicions, rumours and conspiracy theories. British intelligence, for example, after many reports circulated claiming she had been working for them, was accused of having got rid of her after she had attempted to meet with German agents. The German Gestapo was also accused of murdering her for the help she had given the British. Her husband at the time had fought violently with her, and her family's honour had been besmirched by the many rumours.
