Mansour: Libya Promised to Speed up Probe into Fate of Moussa al-Sadr

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Libya is probing the mysterious disappearance of revered Lebanese Shiite Imam Moussa al-Sadr who went missing in Tripoli 33 years ago, Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour told reporters on Thursday.

"The investigation is on... there is a commission of inquiry chaired by the Libyan attorney general" which is probing the case, Mansour said after meeting Mustafa Abdel Jalil, the head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC).

"We agreed to have follow-ups between Lebanese and Libyans, and there will be a judge representing the Lebanese side, Hassan al-Shami, to follow the issue and arrive at a positive outcome."

Mansour said that Libyan officials had given assurances about "speeding up the work" in the case.

Mansour, heading a Lebanese delegation, arrived on Wednesday in Tripoli to discuss the case of al-Sadr in the first visit to Libya by a Lebanese diplomat in more than 30 years.

Sadr, a charismatic and revered Shiite spiritual leader, had been officially invited to Libya in 1978 during the rule of Moammar Gadhafi along with an aide and a journalist.

But the three men have not been heard of since and Tripoli had always maintained that the cleric had left Libya for Italy.

Since the mysterious disappearance of Sadr, ties between Libya and Lebanon have been strained.

"The shadow of this case has hung over bilateral relations between Lebanon and Libya for more than 33 years," said Mansour.

"We want to turn this black page and establish fraternal and constructive bilateral relations and that is why it is of great importance that we reveal the truth" about the case, he added.

On Wednesday, NTC member Fathi Baja said the NTC was ready to form a joint commission with the Lebanese to investigate what happened to Sadr, but that so far Abdel Jalil and other Libyan officials had no information about the circumstances of his disappearance.

He said some clues of the case could possibly be found in files obtained by the new rulers which belonged to the intelligence, foreign affairs and police authorities of the ousted Gadhafi regime.

Baja also dismissed recent reports that Sadr had died of natural causes in a prison cell in 1998.

A Gadhafi aide, Ahmed Ramadan, had previously said on television that Sadr was "liquidated" after he met the former strongman in Tripoli in 1978.

Sadr's trip to Libya was aimed at negotiating an end to Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war.

The Iranian-born cleric arrived in Tripoli on August 25, 1978, with two companions Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddin. They were seen for the last time on August 31, 1978.

His disappearance had been a source of tension between Lebanon and the Gadhafi regime, which was ousted late last year following an eight-month armed uprising.

Comments 18
Default-user-icon lebanese missing in syria (Guest) 12 January 2012, 15:23

is it because your iranian born imam is involved you are wasting so much time on a person who is already dead? What about our missing lebanese in syrian jails???????

Thumb thepatriot 12 January 2012, 15:38

I wish our sinister be more focused on our problems instead of digging up 30 years old corpses!

Thumb thepatriot 12 January 2012, 16:02

I wish he tried to get those back ya sweaty but your syrian master is not willing to give'em back huh?? We'll get them after Bashar's fall!

Default-user-icon khaled naser (Guest) 12 January 2012, 16:04

Did our governments shared bei the investigations of Mr Hariri morder?

Missing peace 12 January 2012, 16:33

"you dont wish to dig them up and return their remains to their families?"
oh mortadella let me remind you of what your orange puppet said concerning the disappeared lebanese in syria: he told their mothers to turn the page, he also said that there were no more prisonners in syria...

funny isn t it?
but i strongly doubt your gvt is going to ask bashar about the fate of lebanese in syria...they don t care about them. and too afraid to disappoint their master! only those in israel suits best their propaganda...

Missing peace 12 January 2012, 17:02

your general said there was one or two prisoners in syria... but doesn t seem very eager to know about their fate... as a patriot he is...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqcH5z83mio

Default-user-icon bashar aoun (Guest) 12 January 2012, 17:03

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnVq6ei98iw

Default-user-icon MUSTAPHA O. GHALAYINI (Guest) 12 January 2012, 17:29

plse mansour if u can bring some remains with u, to make a shrine.

Thumb thepatriot 12 January 2012, 17:56

make up ur mind sandwich!

Default-user-icon okdoki (Guest) 12 January 2012, 18:03

So every October 13ish they are his people then for the rest of the year they are not, got it - he wouldn't wanna embarrass his allies, right.

Missing peace 12 January 2012, 18:16

mortadella: you are simply saying that aoun is no better than M14..... thanks

so stop idealizing him ok?

Missing peace 12 January 2012, 18:19

and watch the other video from bashar aoun...

Default-user-icon sam (Guest) 12 January 2012, 18:31

To Khaled I Like That

Missing n3msp 12 January 2012, 23:59

How is this Lebanese News? Just put it elsewhere

Default-user-icon Le PheneChien (Guest) 13 January 2012, 02:40

How much money are we spending on traveling delegations for a dead guy?

Thumb joesikemrex 13 January 2012, 03:30

Maybe this minister can get lost in Libya for 30 years at least. No prisoners who defended Lebanon are in Syrian jails! yeah right. Open your jails and let us confirm it, it seems only child murderers are ever returned from prisions. Shame! This Aoun and fake resistance and all our politicians are nothing but methane in suits....

Default-user-icon Gabby (Guest) 13 January 2012, 03:52

The Shia Hezz are protecting 4 involved in the killing of Harriri. they packed the truck in dahye. Why should we care about this imam?

Why do the Hezz protect the butcher of Damascus? He is killing daily.

Default-user-icon lebanese001 (Guest) 13 January 2012, 04:44

why didn't hariri ask about the Lebanese prisoners in Syrian jails when he visited bashar last year?