31 آب 2008
BEIRUT: Thirty years after Lebanese Shia leader Mussa Sadr vanished without trace in Libya, the imam lives on for his followers but the circumstances of his disappearance are as mysterious as ever.
In the latest development in the seemingly endless saga, Lebanon this week issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over the disappearance of the imam on August 31, 1978 while he was in Tripoli with two companions, who vanished with him.
The charismatic Sadr, who founded the opposition Amal movement now led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, would have been 80 this year and is still regarded by the Lebanese Shia community as their key spiritual guide.
Posters of his serene face framed with a well-trimmed beard, a hint of a smile on his lips and his head wrapped in the black turban of Shia imams, are plastered across Beirut and southern Lebanon.
His speeches of tolerance and moderation, which have even been repeated in Christian churches, continue to attract a considerable audience on Internet sites.
Observers say Sadr’s popularity stems from the fact that he infused in the Lebanese Shia community a sense of pride which transformed it from a poor and marginalised group into a potent force at all levels of Lebanese society.
Of Lebanese origin but born in the Iranian religious city of Qom on April 15, 1928, Sadr moved to Lebanon in 1959.
He founded the Higher Shia Council in 1967 and in 1975 announced the birth of the pro-Syrian Amal militia which he said would help the Shia community defend itself. The group was to be a precursor to today’s powerful Hezbollah militia.
When the civil war broke out in 1975, Mussa Sadr refused to engage his forces in the conflict. “Arms will not solve the crisis, but will increase the divisions of the nation,” he famously said. He was later called on to be a mediator between the belligerents.
Officially invited to Libya, he arrived there on August 25, 1978, with two companions, Sheikh Mohamed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddin. They were seen for the last time on August 31, 1978.
Libya has denied involvement in the case, saying Sadr left Libya for Italy. But the Italian government has always denied he ever arrived there.
However, in 2004 Italian authorities returned a passport found in Italy belonging to the imam.
A number of theories have been put forward concerning the fate of the trio but none has been officially accepted and the finger of suspicion still points to the Libyan authorities.
Lebanese investigating magistrate Samih el-Hajj said this week that Gaddafi had been indicted for allegedly “inciting the abduction” of Imam Mussa Sadr.
An “arrest warrant” was issued for Gaddafi and six other Libyan suspects who were also indicted for taking part in the alleged abduction, according to a copy of the charge sheet obtained by AFP.
Lebanon reopened the case in 2004 after relatives of Sadr and his companions lodged several complaints with the authorities demanding action and amid accusations by Hezbollah of Libyan involvement.
Gaddafi in 1997 proposed setting up a joint committee to investigate Sadr’s disappearance but the offer was dismissed by Amal as a “mockery.”
The Libyan government responded by saying the fact Amal did not want to investigate the case “proves that the movement’s leaders want to hide the truth.”
“Imam Sadr is a symbol for all Lebanese,” said teacher Abu Mahdi while visiting an exhibition in Beirut extolling the virtues of the religious guide.
“I do not believe that physically he is still alive, but he remains omnipresent in the spiritual sphere.” - AFP
