Mansour in Libya to ‘Turn Black Page’ of al-Sadr Disappearance

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour said Wednesday he was visiting Libya to receive information on the investigations into the fate of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and to turn the black page of the past in the Lebanese-Libyan ties.

In remarks to As Safir daily published Wednesday, Mansour said: “We are not going there for exploration but to get the final result of the case of Imam Moussa al-Sadr and his companions.”

“We will meet with the head of the transitional council, the prime minister, the foreign and defense ministers and several other ministers,” he said.

“We should return from Libya with transparent answers,” Mansour stressed.

Asked at Beirut airport about the aim of his visit at the head of an official delegation, Mansour said: “This is the first official visit of a Lebanese foreign minister to Libya after several decades … We seek to turn the black page of the past in the Lebanese-Libyan relations.”

“We aim through this visit and our talks with the Libyan officials to unveil the truth and liberate the abductees,” he added.

In 1978, the Shiite religious leader flew to Tripoli for a week of talks with Libyan officials. He was never seen or heard from again.

Since al-Sadr's disappearance, Libya has always insisted the cleric and his two traveling companions left Tripoli on a flight to Rome and suggested he was a victim of a power struggle among Shiites.

However, Most of al-Sadr's followers are convinced that slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi ordered al-Sadr killed.

Last month, al-Liwaa daily reported that al-Sadr died of natural causes in the summer of 1998, while he was detained at Tripoli’s central prison in an underground cell.

The Imam’s son, Sadreddine al-Sadr, who is a member of the delegation that headed to Libya on Wednesday, asked the Libyan officials and the new government to take the case seriously and cooperate with the Lebanese team to find the place of detention of the Imam and help his safe return home.