The family of Imam Moussa al-Sadr have accused the authorities in Tripoli of hiding the truth about his disappearance.
The official committee tasked with investigating the disappearance of the Lebanese Shiite imam, Moussa al-Sadr, denounced on Wednesday the lack of cooperation from successive Libyan authorities since 2011, holding them “fully responsible” for the fate of the cleric and his two companions who disappeared in Libya in 1978.
Despite a memorandum of understanding signed between Beirut and Tripoli more than ten years ago nothing has been heard about the imam. The family expressed lack of confidence in the Libyan authorities to provide answers to what eventually happened to him. They were speaking at a press
conference in Beirut, organised with the Imam Moussa Al-Sadr Research and Study Center.
Sadr Al-Din, the son of the missing imam, stated that corroborating bits of information and investigations conducted by various parties confirm that his father was moved between several detention centres in Libya “at least until 2011.”
This persistence, he argued, demonstrates that the current Libyan authorities “continue to bear responsibility” for his fate.
He also denounced Lebanon’s release of Hannibal Gaddafi in 2023, seeing it as resulting from “a suspicious political agreement” and “a profound imbalance in the course of justice.”
Judge Hassan Al-Shami, in charge of the case in Lebanon, warned against any normalisation or resumption of “ordinary” relations with Tripoli before Libya provides the information it has been demanding for years.
He reiterated that the Libyan authorities have to date failed to provide any decisive evidence to shed light on the disappearance of the imam and his companions.
According to Lebanese authorities, Hannibal Gaddafi was arrested in 2015 based on information related to the Al-Sadr case, before being released last November. His release, without substantial progress in the investigation, has revived accusations of political obstruction and renewed pressure on Tripoli to reveal the circumstances of this 47-year-old mystery.
MK/ak/ac/Sf/fss/as/APA