Sheikh Al-Sadr: Shed Massacre Victim?

April 26, 2012 
(incomplete - last edits May 1)


<< The Khamis Brigade Shed Massacre

 This post will be the spot for all things Musa Sadr, but especially in connection with the allegation he was arrested in Libya in 1978, held secretly for decades until dying in the 1990s, buried somewhere for a decade, dug up and charred alongside the other unidentifiable victims of the August 2011 massacre as Tripoli was falling.

Sheikh Sayyid Musa Al Sadr, the Lebanese Shiite cleric, is widely believed to have been killed in 1978 after disappearing, allegedly, inside Libya. This rumor has been promoted down through the years and kept Lebanon unhappy with the Gaddafi regime, who always denied any such crime. The Lebanese didn't believe it, and this clearly helped motivate them to be the nation that first tabled a no-fly zone against Libya at the Arab League. This first move by non-European imperialists was ostensibly "to stop the violence" and "protect the civilians there," and/or done in the "belief that finally, in the wake of the chaos in Libya, the Lebanese can learn the fate of Imam Musa al-Sadr."[ Guardian] Thus the allegation against Gaddafi, along with so many others, contributed directly to the government's eventual destruction, a whole lot of chaos and mayhem and a nationwide purge, and protection for the militants no one is now able to protect Libyans from.

It took the conquest of Tripoli at least and a mass bloodletting before the Lebanese started getting their pay-off - totally true news about al-Sadr. In October, it was reported that he might have been held and tortured at the Yarmouk shed prison south of Tripoli, and perhaps even buried there. The source is rebel commander and terrorist LIFG founder Abdelhakim Belhaj. [LBC]

Journalist Feras Kilani, photographer Goktay Koraltan, and security man Chris Cobb-Smith of BBC Arabic reported being arrested by the Libyan military near Az Zawiya, accused of being spies. [BBC4] They were taken to a base with an eagle on the gate, Cobb-Smith said at the time, and finally to a “dirty scruffy little compound” behind the base. There they were held in a cage, then a room. Kilani was beaten and his Palestinian people were insulted. Cobb-Smith reported a mock execution they were subjected to shortly before release, and seeing other prisoners shackled, terrified, and speaking of torture. [CNN5]

Another more confusing report suggests Kilani and his team were detained in March after visiting the Yarmouk base itself, to film a documentary about the death of Sheikh al-Sadr. By this, Kilani was surprised to see a man come in with “dogs and special equipment to detect burials,” along with explanations that they were looking for buried bodies. But the newsman investigating the Sheikh’s burial there was threatened not to tell anyone about this, and was arrested, beaten, and released.  [LBC]

Cobb-Smith at least returned to the massacre shed after the rebel victory, and verified it as the same spot that they were held. [CTV]

There was a November 8 interview with "Gaddafi's right hand," Ahmad Ramadan, who was now a rebel (judging by his talking and his shirt) and who "names killers of Moussa Sadr" [video, and thanks to Felix] "Of course I witnessed that he arrived in Libya..." the man started. Even that part needs special corroboration-no one knows whether he was even in Libya at the time. From this pressurised captive's comments, we can be fairly sure he did not arrive in Libya. But that can't be. Consider the amazing(!) news announcement by the NTC's chief Abdul Jalil: Sadr Remains could be Confirmed Soon, Tripoli Post, April 13, 2012

Tripoli-- Mustafa Abdul Jalil, head of Libya’s ruling National Transitional Council (TNC), said on Friday Libyan authorities have obtained “semi-confirmed information” about the presence of Lebanese Imam Moussa Sadr’s body in a recently discovered mass grave in Tripoli. “Imam Sadr’s case was not on the front burner during this period, but some reports have suggested that the imam’s body might be among the bodies buried in a mass grave during the liberation of Tripoli” in August 2011. Abdul Jalil said in an interview on France 24 television.

Ah! I have a hunch it's this one.

Come on, you can't see the resemblance? It must be him!

They seem pretty confident they've either got one of these skeletons identified as his or will be able to in short order. Just how, I'd be curious to know.

He noted that investigators from the office of the public prosecutor in Tripoli were probing the case and that Lebanon had assigned a judge to follow up on the issue, following several visits by Lebanese officials to Libya. “The office of the public prosecutor in Tripoli is in contact with this judge, and God willing these bodies will not be removed from the grave except in the presence of a representative of the Lebanese government, so that the Lebanese can realize that we are serious in this endeavor,” Abdul Jalil added.

What a strange promise. They'll say "no, that's okay. We'll take your word for it." The NTC will take that as a blank check.

Also, they haven't dug up a single body still? Where exactly is this grave, and what ever happened to all the family members who wanted their loved ones' remains identified and sent home? Went away for good as soon as the news cameras left, I presume, with the real families too terrified or dead to ask after their own...

But Lebanon, you did the right thing. Truth is VERY important to you guys, huh? 


Update May 1: a video I've never seen shows Kilani already re-visiting the place on or before October 20, in a report that was eclipsed by the lynching of Muammar Gaddafi and many of his top loyalists. It can be seen here, BBC Arabic, posted the 21st: http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2011/10/111020_libya_sadr_farm.shtml or below. It's mostly about Sheikh Al-Sadr, and has an interview with the terrorist warlord of Tripoli Belhaj. So this is the BBC Arabic report cited by the LBC where Belhaj "explains" how this scene of one of his allies' war crimes was in fact the place Al-Sadr was buried and/or dug up and burnt.