On the eve of commemoration of the 39 years since highly revered Iranian Shia cleric Imam Musa Sadr went missing during a trip to Libya, Khalil Hamdan, a member of Lebanon's Amal Movement founded by Sadr in 1974, attended a press conference in Tehran to shed more light on the various aspects of the kidnapping that is still wrapped in a halo of mystery.
Hamdan voiced regret over lack of success on Imam Musa Sadr’s case despite Iran and Lebanon’s joint efforts on this matter, saying all remarks made by Libya's deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi about the Shia cleric had been “all lies.”
“We have held numerous rounds of negotiations with Libya’s current officials about the kidnapping case. Imad Musa Sadr had definitely been alive at the time of kidnapping and this is a proven fact to us. Still, there is no evidence proving his death and our efforts for obtaining new information about his latest status is ongoing,” Hamdan said during the press conference on Monday.
He went on to add, “the current Libyan government has shown no serious resolve to help with clarifying Sadr’s case; however, we will insist on demanding answers from Libya.”
“The Zionist regime has definitely benefitted the most from Sadr’s abduction, but it is wrong to blame the regime for the kidnapping,” Hamdan said, adding “Lebanon holds Gaddafi responsible for the fate of Sadr.”
Stressing that no evidence on Sadr’s demise has surfaced yet, Hamdan refuted the claim about his death due to old age, saying Musa Sadr’s brother, Ali Sadr, who is two years his senior, is still alive.
“Iran is not the only country we have relied on to probe further into the mysterious abduction of Sadr,” said Hamdan, adding “we have held negotiations with other countries, including Mauritania.”
“Ahmed al-Senussi had spent 33 years in prison during Gaddafi’s dictatorship and later formed a party in Mauritania. We called on Mauritania’s government to allow us to interrogate Senussi but our request was rejected and we could only hold short visits with him,” Hamdan said.
“After a while we realized that all the information that Senussi gave us was false,” he added.
“It is a bitter fact that certain governments have taken advantage of Sadr’s abduction, but we have no intention of placing the blame on them,” he stressed.
The international community has a great responsibility toward the settlement of Imam Musa Sadr’s case, he added.
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