Libya and the disappearance of Mousa al-Sader
Libya-Lebanon, Politics, 11/30/2000

A high ranking Iranian diplomat who served as the political advisor for the Iranian embassy in Libya by the beginning of the Iranian revolution unmasked that he, delegated by Sadeq Tabatabi, brother of the wife of Ahmad al-Khumeini, son of the late Iranian leader Ayatullah al-Khumeini who was then an assistant for the prime minister, he made precise and comprehensive investigations on conditions behind the disappearance of Mousa al-Sader ( the Shiite Imam from Lebanon ) during his visit to Libya in September 1978 and he had got documents and pictures showing that al- Sader and his companion Sheikh Muhammad Yaqoub and the journalist Abbas Bader Eddine are in a military prison in an area close to Sabha city in Libya.

In a statement to the London- based al-Sharq al-Awsat daily issued on Wednesday, the Iranian diplomat stressed that a Tunisian guard used to work within the group of Tunisians in the Libyan security forces contacted the Iranian embassy and gave controversial documents on this matter. He said he had sent the documents in a diplomatic bag to Tabatabi but the document fell in the hands of the revolution's guards intelligence. He added after a short period of time former of the leader of the revolution guards and former guards minister Mohsin Rafiq Doust visited Tripoli and held a series of meetings with Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi resulted in signing an agreement between the two countries on security and military cooperation. The diplomat added that "the Iranian diplomat who had a long record of service in diplomacy" was summoned to Tehran but he had decided to go to Europe after he had received warnings from his colleagues at the foreign ministry against the consequences of returning back to Iran.

The diplomat added that al-Sader file was closed after the assassination of the former Iranian defense minister Mustafa Hamran, who was the first commander for the Lebanese Shiite Amal Movement militias, who was also following up, in an agreement with Tabata', the nephew of al-Sader since his return back to Iran with Imam al-Khumeini in January 1979.

The Iranian diplomat who returned back to his country after the interference of Tabatabi to ensure his safety upon his return back to Iran and he is not in charge of a high ranking post at an establishment for the foreign ministry explained that all documents available at the Iranian foreign ministry on conditions and circumstances on al-Sader disappearance were transferred to the ministry of the intelligence later on, until the Iranian President Muhammad Khatami has ordered after 15 years to open this file once again and to review its documents.

Previous Stories:
  On the Libyan ambassador to Lebanon   (11/15/2000)
  Al- Hariri: relations with Libya are normal   (11/3/2000)
  Libya protests on Berri and withdraws its ambassador from Lebanon   (10/24/2000)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search