Libyan Delegation Heads to Beirut in Sadr Disappearance Probe

A team from the Libyan Ministry of Justice is scheduled to visit Beirut soon to reinvigorate a 2014 agreement concerning the 1978 disappearance of Lebanese Shiite cleric Imam Moussa Sadr. This delegation plans to engage with Lebanon’s justice ministry and a committee handling the case involving Hannibal Gadhafi, the son of Libya’s former ruler Moammar Gadhafi, as stated by a Lebanese judicial official.

Human Rights Watch recently urged Lebanon to release Hannibal Gadhafi, criticizing his eight-year detention on what they deem “spurious charges”. However, a Lebanese judicial source criticized the HRW report as being biased and solely based on information from Gadhafi’s defense team. They asserted that Gadhafi’s detention is purely for judicial reasons, accusing him of being involved in his father’s regime, particularly in the prison where Imam Sadr was allegedly held.

Lebanon arrested Gadhafi in 2015, charging him with concealing information about Imam Sadr’s disappearance. However, Human Rights Watch pointed out that Gadhafi was only two years old when the cleric vanished. They criticized Lebanon for what appears to be an arbitrary and prolonged pre-trial detention, calling it a mockery of the Lebanese judicial system, as stated by Hanan Salah of HRW.

In response to a letter received from Libyan authorities in August, demanding Gadhafi’s release, a judicial source in Beirut indicated that his release would not occur until Tripoli provides details about Sadr’s disappearance.

Adding to the tensions, Nabih Berri, the leader of the Amal movement, accused Libya of not cooperating with the Lebanese judiciary and concealing information related to the case later that month.