Berri Says Syria Crisis May 'Destroy' Region, Key Development in Sadr Case Soon

Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday revealed that an “important development” in the case of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr will happen “tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” calling for national unity in the face of Israel and warning that the Syrian crisis is “threatening to destroy the neighboring countries” and the region.

“We are determined to exert all efforts to liberate Imam Sadr and his two dear companions,” said Berri at a mass rally in Nabatiyeh on the occasion of the 34th anniversary of the disappearance of the revered imam.

Sadr and his two companions, Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine, arrived in Tripoli on August 25, 1978 for talks with now slain Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi. They were seen for the last time on August 31, 1978.

“We are investigating every detail related to the case, but the truth is confined to small circles known by the captors and the tyrants, including the head of the regime’s intelligence held in Mauritania,” Abdullah al-Senussi, Berri added.

“Our contacts have been expanded to Libya’s neighbors and we have received positive answers on the possibility of interrogating the detainees in order to unveil all the circumstances, and an important development in this case will happen tomorrow or by Sunday at the latest,” he revealed.

“The security agencies are closely following every detail and we are awaiting and we laud every cooperation by Libya’s highest authorities,” Berri added, urging “Libya’s National Transitional Council, all the parliamentary blocs and the upcoming government to consider the case a national Libyan cause and a freedom cause.”

The house speaker revealed that Libyan authorities “found out that all the tests they received were fake and that the obsolete regime still has agents who are tampering with the investigation in order to block the required results.”

Turning to the developments in the region, Berri warned that “one of the main objectives of what’s happening around us is preserving Israel’s security and igniting internal conflicts in a bid to turn the Arab-Israeli conflict into an Arab-Persian conflict.”

Berri voiced his rejection of the ongoing violence in Syria and his opposition to “imposing change and reforms by force.”

He also voiced concern over Syria’s unity and a possible spillover of the crisis into neighboring countries, such as “Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan.”

Berri noted that Syria is being targeted by “an international conspiracy aimed at imposing a new Sykes-Picot Agreement that would eventually partition” the country.

The speaker reassured that Lebanon’s Shiites will not be dragged into any sectarian strife, reiterating Imam Sadr’s remarks that Lebanon is a final homeland for all of its citizens.

And as Berri urged the Arab countries to “stop fueling strife and resort to dialogue,” he decried “the insufficient Arab role in containing the Syrian crisis” and voiced support for the mission of U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.

Addressing the situations in Lebanon, Berri stressed the importance of national unity.

“Lebanon’s strength lies in its resistance as well as its unity and Lebanon’s strength lies in its army as well as its unity,” said Berri.

He noted that AMAL Movement’s strategy “was and will remain the building of a civil, strong and just state.”

Imam Sadr was invited to Tripoli by Gadhafi and was trying to negotiate an end to the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), in which Palestinian factions were involved.

Gadhafi was believed to be shipping weapons to the Palestinians and other groups and Sadr, according to reports, was hoping to convince the Libyan leader to refrain from stoking the unrest in Lebanon.

But his visit to Tripoli along with his two aides took a sour turn after he got into a heated argument with Gadhafi who ordered that the three men be "taken away," according to an indictment against the slain Libyan leader issued by Lebanese authorities.

Gadhafi’s regime had stated that the three left Tripoli to Italy, which after conducting an investigation into the case denied the claims.

In 2004, the passports of Sadr and Yacoub were found in a hotel in Rome.

In August 2008, Lebanon issued arrest warrants against Gadhafi and some of his aides, accusing them of kidnapping Sadr and his companions.