Suzanne Tamim Biography / Pictures

Suzanne Tamim (Arabic: سوزان تميم‎, September 23, 1977 – July 28, 2008) was a Lebanese singer who rose to fame in the Arab world after having won the top prize in the popular Studio el fan television show in 1996. Suzanne was found murdered in an apartment in Dubai Marina in 2008. On September 2, 2008, Egyptian businessman and lawmaker Hisham Talaat Moustafa was arrested in Cairo and charged with paying a hitman to have Suzanne killed. Moustafa was found guilty and sentenced to death on May 21, 2009.

Biography

Suzanne won fame after appearing on a TV talent show in Lebanon in 1996, but her career was marred by stories about a troubled private life. Soon afterward, news about her divorce from her first husband, Ali Muzannar, flooded the media. Suzanne later married Lebanese impresario and producer Adel Matouk, who became her manager. Once they divorced, Suzanne was thought to have fled from her home in Beirut to Egypt after Matouk filed a series of lawsuits against her, including embezzlement, fraud, and slander and libel. Reports say she disappeared from public view in Cairo in 2007 and was thought to be living in Dubai's exclusive Jumeirah district.

After winning a Gold Medal on Studio el fan, she was hailed not only for her beauty but also for a voice that was equally suited to pop tunes and classical Arabic melodies. Tamim's last album was produced in 2002 by production giant Rotana and called Saken Alby. This album went on to establish sales records.

Suzanne Tamim's last song, "Beirut", recorded in 2006, was dedicated to the memory of slain Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Suzanne Tamim was found murdered in her apartment in Dubai, on 28 July 2008. Although it was reported that she had been beheaded, the lawyer of her former husband let it be known that her death certificate indicates that 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.

Muhsen el-Sukkari, a 39-year-old former policeman from Egypt, was arrested as the alleged murderer in early August in Cairo. The suspect, whose name was being withheld, was said to have died in police custody in early August 2008; however, the police subsequently reported him to be alive. The alleged killer — who had apparently confessed to the murder and is linked to Hisham Talaat Moustafa, a prominent and influential businessman in Egypt and member of the Shura Council — had denied any connection to her death.

Although Egyptian newspapers initially reported freely about the death, but once the case was linked to the businessman, the Attorney General forbade reporting about the case; an edition of a newspaper that defied the order was confiscated.

On 2 September 2008, Hisham Talaat Moustafa, the son of the Egyptian tycoon Talaat Mostafa, was arrested by Egyptian justice officers and charged with the murder. The indictment charges former police officer Muhsen el-Sukkari with killing Suzanne on 28 July in return for $2 million from company chairman Hesham Talaat Moustafa.

Five Egyptian journalists have been charged with breaching a gag order in the trial.

On May 21, 2009 Hisham Talaat Moustafa and Muhsen el-Sukkari were sentenced to death for the murder of Tamim.