DUBAI - Mystery shrouds the death of a 31-year-old award-winning Lebanese singer, Suzan Tamim, whose body with multiple stab wounds was found in her flat in the posh Jumeirah area on Monday night.

Suzan lived in Rimal Tower’s 1113 apartment in Jumeirah Beach Residence in Dubai Marina.

Preliminary investigations revealed that she had bought the apartment for Dh2.8 million just eight days ago on arrival in Dubai from London.

The incident came to light when the singer’s cousin went to her apartment to check on her because she had not responded to his phone calls since Monday morning.

The police have taken some suspects into custody and are interrogating them, but till the time of going to Press no clue to the singer’s death was available. Some of Suzan’s neighbours told Khaleej Times that she was seen on Sunday night with some friends who dropped her home. Police have questioned a number of security guards in the vicinity.

According to the police, the singer’s cousin apparently felt suspicious when he called her the last time around 5pm on Monday so that he could take her to the Dubai Driving Institute for a driving lesson, but did not get any response. The police said that the cousin, however, went to the singer’s apartment around 10pm and was shocked to find the door to the flat open and her blood-spattered body lying inside. The face of the singer appeared badly mutilated.

He informed the police immediately and detectives and forensic experts promptly reached the scene. The cousin told the police that on Sunday night Suzan was hale and hearty, but when he called her several times on Monday the calls went unanswered.

He said that the singer had a longstanding dispute with some people living in the United Kingdom, Egypt and Lebanon, details of which were not immediately available.

Since the start of her career in 1996 after graduating from Al Fan Studio in Beirut the Lebanese singer was beset with domestic strife which involved a break-up from her first husband, Ali Manzaz.

Despite her family problems overshadowing her professional career, she won in the talent competition - Studio Al Fan - and became a singing icon for the younger generation.

After the divorce from Ali Manzaz, she married Lebanese producer Adel Matooq but the second marriage, too, hit the rocks very soon. In order to get away from the string of cases filed by her second husband, Adel, she travelled secretly to Egypt from Lebanon. Eight months ago, she disappeared from Egypt only to surface in the UAE about a month ago.

Khaleej Times has learnt that Suzan’s second husband had in 2004 alleged attempts on his life by Suzan with help from others. Matooq suffered injuries when some unknown assailants shot at him outside his office in Beirut. He alleged that an Egyptian businessman with whom Suzan was having an affair, was behind the attack. The matter is still in court. Matooq also declined to divorce Suzan.