A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Al-Akhbar: Musa al-Sadr Died in Libya in Early 2000s

Lebanon's Al-Akhbar is reporting that Libyan authorities have made available information to Lebanese authorities indicating that the charismatic Lebanese Shi‘ite leader Musa al-Sadr, who vanished after a trip to Libya in 1978, lived on until his death from diabetes in a Libyan prison in the early 2000s. The story also claims to offer alleged details of the fate of Libyan opposition figure Mansur Kikhia, who was last seen in Egypt in 1993.

If the details here are true, Sadr lived for more than two decades in Libyan captivity. His disappearance from Lebanon deprived Lebanon's Shi‘ites of a charismatic leader, and may arguably have led yo tje emergence of Hizbullah to fil the vacuum.

Mu‘ammar Qadhafi always insisted that Sadr left Libya on a flight to Italy, while Italy insisted he never arrived there.

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