Lebanon Delays Sadr Case Ruling Pending Proof Gadhafi Dead
A Lebanese court on Friday delayed its verdict in a case alleging Moammar Gadhafi’s involvement in the 1978 disappearance of prominent Shiite cleric Imam Moussa Sadr, pending confirmation of the Libyan leader's death.
"Local, regional and international media on October 20 reported the killing of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, who is wanted in the case" of the disappearance of Sadr and three others, a court statement read.
"In the interest of preserving the course of justice, we request Lebanon's foreign ministry confirm the death of Moammar Gadhafi through an official document."
In 2008, Lebanon issued an arrest warrant for then-Libyan leader Gadhafi and six others over the disappearance of Sadr, a spiritual guide of Lebanon's Shiite community.
The trial was held in absentia on October 14, with the verdict now scheduled for January 20.
Sadr, would have been 83 this year, arrived in Libya on an official visit in August 1978, accompanied by Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine.
The three 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 always maintained that the cleric had left Libya for Italy.
Two influential figures from Gadhafi’s entourage, Ahmed Ramadan and Abdel Moneim al-Honi, have confirmed the Libyan leader had ordered Sadr killed.
Gadhafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte on October 20 after an eight-month armed rebellion inspired by a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the Arab world.
Ramadan has said on Al-Aan television that Sadr disappeared following a meeting with the late Libyan strongman soon after arriving in Tripoli.
"I bear witness that (Sadr) came ... he arrived in Libya," Ramadan said on the Dubai-based channel, adding the meeting had lasted for two and a half hours.
Two officials then "took the guests," including the cleric and those who accompanied him, and "100 percent, what we heard is that he was liquidated," said Ramadan.
Ramadan said it was "possible" that Gadhafi had given the orders for Sadr to be killed because after the meeting, "He said: 'Take him'."
He said he received the information from "some sources at the time" as well as from one of the three officials involved who had since died, and that his statements could be corroborated by "complete files."
The remains of the cleric were likely to be located in either Janzur, a suburb east of Tripoli, or the southern region of Sabha, he said.
According to an indictment against Gadhafi issued by Lebanese authorities, Gadhafi ordered Sadr to be "taken away" after the pair got into a heated argument.
Honi, a former colonel who took part in the 1969 coup that brought Gadhafi to power, revealed in February that Gadhafi had ordered Sadr killed during his visit and that the cleric was buried in the southern region of Sabha.
Source: Agence France Presse
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