Lebanese FM denies claims Imam Sadr’s remains found

TEHRAN, April 14 (MNA) – Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour denied recent reports that remains believed to be those of Imam Musa al-Sadr had been discovered in Libya, Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Thursday. “There is no truth whatsoever to the Al-Jazeera TV report,” Mansour, who was in Libya, told the newspaper in an interview. Quoting Nasser al-Maneh, an official spokesperson for the Libyan government, Al-Jazeera TV reported that remains believed to be Imam Sadr’s had been discovered in a graveyard near Libya’s capital Tripoli. According to the Qatar-based TV station, Maneh said a committee operating under the Libyan ministry responsible for the families of martyrs and missing persons had discovered the remains in a cemetery in Tajoura, east of Tripoli. The remains were transferred to Tripoli’s central hospital for DNA tests. Results are supposed to be released on Saturday, Al-Jazeera reported. Mansour, who headed to the Libyan capital on Sunday to follow up on Imam Sadr’s case, told Al-Akhbar that he had held discussions with Libyan officials in Tripoli on developments in the probe. “The investigations are still ongoing and we have taken significant steps in this regard,” Mansour said. In August 1978, Imam Sadr departed for Libya with two companions to meet officials of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s government. They were never heard from again, and many believe they met with foul play at the hands of Qaddafi. In August 2008, Lebanon issued an arrest warrant for Qaddafi and 11 other Libyan officials, charging them with kidnapping Imam Sadr. Qaddafi was also indicted for “inciting the abduction” of the senior cleric.