Musa Al-Sadr - Disappearance

Disappearance

In August 1978, al-Sadr and two companions Sheikh Muhammad Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine departed for Libya to meet with government officials. The three were never heard from again. It is widely believed that the Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi ordered aṣ-Ṣadr's killing, but differing motivations exist. Libya has consistently denied responsibility, claiming that aṣ-Ṣadr and his companions left Libya for Italy. Sadr's son claimed that he remains secretly in jail in Libya but did not provide proof. Aṣ-Ṣadr's disappearance continues to be a major dispute between Lebanon and Libya. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri claimed that the Libyan regime, and particularly the Libyan leader, were responsible for the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat, a Saudi-run pan-Arab daily reported on 27 August 2006.

According to Iranian General Mansour Qadar, the head of Syrian security, Rifaat al-Assad, told the Iranian ambassador to Syria that Gaddafi was planning to kill aṣ-Ṣadr. On 27 August 2008, Gaddafi was indicted by the government of Lebanon for al-Sadr's disappearance. Following the fall of the Gaddafi regime, Lebanon and Iran appealed to the Libyan rebels to investigate the fate of Moussa al-Sadr.

In an interview political analyst Roula Talj said that the son of Muammar Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, told her that Imam Mousa Sadr and his aides, Mohammed Yaqoub and Abbas Badreddin, never left Libya. According to representative of Libya’s National Transitional Council in Cairo, Muammar Gaddafi murdered Imam Mousa Sadr after discussion about Shia beliefs. Imam Mousa Sadr accused Gaddafi of unawareness about Islamic teachings and about the Islamic branches of Shia and Sunni, following which Gaddafi became enraged and ordered the murder of Imam Mousa Sadr and his accompanying delegation. According to other sources the murder of Moussa al-Sadr was done by Muammar Gaddafi, they claim, at request of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The Shias and the Palestinians at that time were involved in armed clashes in Southern Lebanon. According to a former member of the Libyan intelligence, Sadr was beaten to death for daring to challenge Gaddafi at his house on matters of theology.Saif al-Islam Gaddafi also confirmed the death of al-Sadr. In an interview with Al Aan TV Ahmed Ramadan an influential figure in the Qaddafi regime and an eye witness of the meeting between al-Sadr and Qaddafi, mentioned that the meeting lasted for two and a half hours and ended up with Qaddafi saying "take him". Ramadan also named three officials who he believes were responsible for the death of Al Sadr.