On Saturday, a woman's body was discovered on the side of the Metn Highway in Beirut, according to several media reports. 

The body had choke marks, according to local press, who said it also appeared she had been thrown from a car and possibly sexually assaulted. 

Today, Lebanese police confirmed that the woman was Rebecca Dykes, a British diplomat who worked at the UK Embassy in Beirut. 

The police forces in Lebanon added that they were treating the incident as a murder case, according to the BBC. 

Her body was taken to Dahr al-Bashak Hospital where a post-mortem has now taken place. 

"We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. We are doing all we can to understand what happened. We request that the media respect our privacy as we come together as a family at this very difficult time," Ms. Dykes family said.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Following the death of a British woman in Beirut, we are providing support to the family. We remain in close contact with local authorities. Our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time."

This website, newsletter, and its content are copyright of Step Platform DMCC - 2021. All rights reserved.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

• You may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
• You may copy or forward the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website and newsletter as the source of the material

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

You may not, except by clearly referencing or crediting the website and newsletter, share or distribute the content.