October 19, 2009 - Naharnet - Lebanon Sader Reportedly Alive

MEA engineer Joseph Sader, who had been kidnapped by unknown assailants eight months ago, was reportedly alive and likely to be released soon, according to a report Monday in the daily al-Liwaa newspaper.
Pastor of Sidon and Deir al-Qamar of the Melkite Roman Catholic Church, Bishop Elie Haddad, meanwhile, said in an interview with OTV that Sader was "still alive" and that he is being held by a Lebanese armed group that has nothing to do with Hizbullah.

Haddad had visited Sader's house in Maghdousheh and met his family, reassuring them that Sader is alive, but that information obtained about him varied between "guilty or not guilty" of being an Israeli spy.

"News of him (Sader) vary between (accusations that he is) an (Israeli) spy or not a spy," Haddad told the family.

"I was told that he is a witness to some of the events that may have been the cause of the espionage," he added.

"It seems that the kidnappers are hesitant and divided. Some want to release Sader and hand him over to state authority while others are seeking to prolong his detention for further investigation," Haddad went on to say.

Al-Liwaa, citing a religious authority in touch with Haddad, confirmed that the kidnappers were an armed Lebanese group.

Haddad said Hizbullah was not behind Sader's abduction.

Sader, an official at Middle East Airline's IT department, was kidnapped in February near Rafik Hariri international airport by unidentified assailants who sped away in a Sports Utility Vehicle.