The visit of a Libyan delegation to Beirut this week marks an “important step” in the disappearance of Imam Musa Al Sadr, a prominent Lebanese Shiite cleric who went missing during a trip to Libya in 1978, a Lebanese judicial source told The National.
The two-day visit aimed to resume talks with Lebanese officials regarding a deal struck between the two countries in 2014, in which Libyan authorities committed to enhancing co-operation and facilitating access for Lebanese authorities to the case.
This includes the possibility for Lebanese judiciary to propose additional investigations as a party to the case opened in Libya.
“This is the first time in years that the Libyan side is showing serious signs of co-operation regarding Mr Al Sadr's case,” the source said.
The delegation, who met with Lebanon's Ministry of Justice and a judge leading a committee investigating Mr Al Sadr's disappearance, also addressed, as a separate issue, the case of late Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's son, who has been detained in Lebanon for years without trial.
Mr Al Sadr, a charismatic and esteemed Shiite figure, was seen for most Lebanese as one of the few leaders who promoted inter-religious dialogue in the decade before Lebanon's devastating civil war.
The fate of the cleric, which remains unknown, has been a long-standing contentious issue between Libya and Lebanon. The 2014 deal between the two countries has remained dormant until now.
“None of the promises made in the agreement has been kept,” the judicial source said, emphasising that the last serious attempt to implement the deal, which dates back to March 2016, has not yet yielded any results.
Exchanges between the two judiciaries began to resume in 2023.
The judicial source said that the current talks were first steps to resume co-operation over the case.
“We have to wait for the application of the memorandum's clauses. This is to be continued,” the source added, without specifying what, if anything, has been officially agreed on so far.
In 1978, Mr Al Sadr along with an aide and a journalist flew to Libya to meet local officials. He was never seen again. Every year since his disappearance, the Amal Movement, which he founded, has organised mass protests as a tribute to the cleric's memory.
According to Qaddafi's version of events, Mr Al Sadr left for Italy but never arrived, while Lebanon accused him of being responsible for his disappearance.
Two 'separate' cases
The delegation and the Lebanese officials also discussed the fate of Hannibal Qaddafi, who has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped by Lebanese militants demanding information about Mr Al Sadr.
He was then detained by Lebanese judiciary, which charged him of withholding information regarding the imam's disappearance.
“This is separate from Mr Al Sadr's case,” the source said, adding that this is not an “exchange", which would involve the release of Mr Qaddafi in exchange for the application of the deal.
In August, Libya’s judicial authorities formally requested that Lebanon release Mr Qaddafi due to his deteriorating health – he was admitted to hospital several times after he started a hunger strike to protest his eight-year detention.
This month, Human Rights Watch called for the release of Mr Qaddafi. The rights group said he was only two years old at the time of the imam's disappearance and held no senior position in Libya as an adult.
Mr Qaddafi's “apparent arbitrary detention on spurious charges after spending eight years in pretrial detention makes a mockery of Lebanon's already strained judicial system", Hanan Salah, HRW's associate Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is hepatitis?
Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver, which can lead to fibrosis (scarring), cirrhosis or liver cancer.
There are 5 main hepatitis viruses, referred to as types A, B, C, D and E.
Hepatitis C is mostly transmitted through exposure to infective blood. This can occur through blood transfusions, contaminated injections during medical procedures, and through injecting drugs. Sexual transmission is also possible, but is much less common.
People infected with hepatitis C experience few or no symptoms, meaning they can live with the virus for years without being diagnosed. This delay in treatment can increase the risk of significant liver damage.
There are an estimated 170 million carriers of Hepatitis C around the world.
The virus causes approximately 399,000 fatalities each year worldwide, according to WHO.
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
World Cricket League Division 2
In Windhoek, Namibia - Top two teams qualify for the World Cup Qualifier in Zimbabwe, which starts on March 4.
UAE fixtures
Thursday February 8, v Kenya; Friday February 9, v Canada; Sunday February 11, v Nepal; Monday February 12, v Oman; Wednesday February 14, v Namibia; Thursday February 15, final
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
More from Neighbourhood Watch
Overview
What: The Arab Women’s Sports Tournament is a biennial multisport event exclusively for Arab women athletes.
When: From Sunday, February 2, to Wednesday, February 12.
Where: At 13 different centres across Sharjah.
Disciplines: Athletics, archery, basketball, fencing, Karate, table tennis, shooting (rifle and pistol), show jumping and volleyball.
Participating countries: Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Qatar and UAE.
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'Outclassed in Kuwait'
Taleb Alrefai,
HBKU Press
Joe Root's Test record
Tests: 53; Innings: 98; Not outs: 11; Runs: 4,594; Best score: 254; Average: 52.80; 100s: 11; 50s: 27
Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
Diriyah%20project%20at%20a%20glance
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Day 1, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Dimuth Karunaratne had batted with plenty of pluck, and no little skill, in getting to within seven runs of a first-day century. Then, while he ran what he thought was a comfortable single to mid-on, his batting partner Dinesh Chandimal opted to stay at home. The opener was run out by the length of the pitch.
Stat of the day - 1 One six was hit on Day 1. The boundary was only breached 18 times in total over the course of the 90 overs. When it did arrive, the lone six was a thing of beauty, as Niroshan Dickwella effortlessly clipped Mohammed Amir over the square-leg boundary.
The verdict Three wickets down at lunch, on a featherbed wicket having won the toss, and Sri Lanka’s fragile confidence must have been waning. Then Karunaratne and Chandimal's alliance of precisely 100 gave them a foothold in the match. Dickwella’s free-spirited strokeplay meant the Sri Lankans were handily placed at 227 for four at the close.
