Mother of Ex-MP Hassan Yaaqoub Admitted to Hospital after Hunger Strike

The mother of former MP Hassan Yaaqoub was admitted to hospital on Saturday for treatment following a hunger strike in protest against her son's detention, reported the National News Agency.

The wife of Sheikh Mohammed Yaaqoub, she has been staging a sit-in for three weeks at al-Safa Mosque over the issue.

She kicked off her hunger strike earlier this week.

A doctor has been at her side at the mosque for the past two days.

Yaaqoub was arrested for his involvement in the kidnapping of Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi.

Hannibal was abducted in a Syrian area near the Lebanese border on December 11 before being smuggled into Lebanon's Bekaa region. He was handed over hours later to Lebanese security forces.

Lebanese authorities have charged Hannibal with withholding information about the disappearance of revered Shiite cleric and founder of the AMAL Movement Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978 along with two companions.

Yaaqoub is the son of Sheikh Mohammed Yaaqoub – one of the two companions who disappeared with al-Sadr in Libya in 1978.

Al-Sadr's Libya visit was paid upon the invitation of then Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi. The three were seen lastly on August 31.

They were never heard from again.

The Lebanese judiciary had indicted Moammar Gadhafi in 2008 over al-Sadr's disappearance, although Libya had consistently denied responsibility, claiming that the imam and his companions had left Libya for Italy.