Khaberni - Lebanon received from Libya the investigation file in the case of the disappearance of Musa al-Sadr, the founder of the Amal Movement, whose fate remains unknown since 1978.
During the reception of the Lebanese President Joseph Aoun by a delegation from the Libyan Government of National Unity led by Ibrahim Dbeibeh, the Libyan State Minister for Communication and Political Affairs Walid Al-Lafi stated that the delegation delivered to the Lebanese investigation judge (in the case regarding the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr) the complete investigation file conducted by the Libyan authorities. He clarified that the delegation expressed readiness to cooperate in providing all data related to this case.
The Shia community in Lebanon holds the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi responsible for kidnapping al-Sadr and his companions, Sheikh Mohammed Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine, in Libya during a visit there on August 25, 1978, but the former Libyan regime denied the allegation, asserting that the three had left Tripoli for Italy.
The Lebanese news agency reported a statement from the official follow-up committee on the case of the disappearance of al-Sadr and his companions that "the official Libyan delegation present in Lebanon met the coordinator of the official follow-up committee for the case of the disappearance of Imam al-Sadr and his companions. The representative of the Libyan Attorney General delivered copies of the documents he said constituted investigations they conducted concerning the case of the disappearance of the Imam and his companions."
The statement noted that the two sides "agreed on establishing a channel for communication and cooperation to activate the work of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two countries regarding this case, to complete the investigations and exchange suggestions and information."
The follow-up committee for the case of the disappearance of al-Sadr and his companions mentioned that the Libyan side had previously acknowledged in the memorandum of understanding between the two sides the "commitment of the former Gaddafi regime to the crime of disappearing the Imam and his companions" in Libya.
According to a statement from the Lebanese presidency, President Aoun welcomed any step that would aid the ongoing investigations in the case of the disappearance of Imam al-Sadr and his companions.
It is noted that al-Sadr was born in Qom, Iran in 1928 and received his early religious education there, before moving to the city of Najaf, Iraq, to continue his higher religious studies. He then returned to Iran after the July 1958 movement that overthrew the monarchy in Iraq and founded the Amal Movement in 1974 under the name “Movement of the Deprived”.
The last sighting of al-Sadr was in Libya, which he visited with two of his aides on August 25, 1978, to hold a meeting with Gaddafi. The three Lebanese were last seen on August 31 of the same month, before they completely disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving their fate unknown to this day.
