His daughter, Rima, grew up in Los Angeles an avid polo player who graduated from the University of Southern California in 1995 with a degree in international relations.

She pursued a master’s degree in Middle East studies at the American University in Beirut, where she met her husband Ziad Monla, 35.

Her husband’s family owns the Monla Hospital in Tripoli, Lebanon. The couple, married for six years, has two sons, ages 2 and 4.

“Rima is a totally American girl,” Patricia Akkad, 64, said in a phone interview from her ex-husband’s home in Los Angeles. “Here’s an American who was over there and innocently killed for no reason.”

Akkad said her daughter loved living in Beirut.

“We all know the problems in the Middle East, and you never think it’s going to touch you,” she said.

Patricia Akkad left for Lebanon late Thursday.