November 17, 2009 - The Daily Star - International court to follow up on disappearance of Imam Mousa Sadr

BEIRUT: The sister of disappeared Shiite religious leader Imam Mousa Sadr said on Monday an international court will be established to follow-up on his case. Rabab Sadr returned Monday from an international convention held in Paris to discuss the disappearance of her brother. The convention was held at the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Paris and was dubbed “Mousa As-Sadr, the Imam of Dialogue and Tolerance.”

It was organized by the committee of the Lebanese Diaspora in France to honor the imam in collaboration with the Lebanese embassy in UNESCO.

Imam Sadr, an Iranian-Lebanese cleric, disappeared in 1978 with two of his colleagues during a visit to Libya. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was suspected of holding the men hostage but the accusations were never confirmed.

Rabab Sadr, the imam’s sister, met during the gathering with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Lebanon’s Ambassador to UNESCO Sylvie Fadlallah and an array of researchers ands academics.

Upon her arrival at Rafik Hariri International Airport, she described the convention as “very successful.” Sadr said Kouchner had expressed his willingness to contact the parties concerned in the case and mentioned that he would visit Leba­non next year. “Kouchner also delegated one of his consultants to stay in contact with the family of the imam,” she said.

Sadr added that the friends of the imam were willing to do anything they could to release him and his two colleagues. “We have started to demand the formation of an international tribunal to look into the case” she said.

As for the role of the new government in following up on the case, Sadr said she had complete faith that the government would not ignore this national cause. “We ask that the government includes the case again in its ministerial statement seeing how it is of great national importance,” she added.

Sadr also confirmed her faith in the judiciary but hoped that it would play a more efficient role in pursuing the case to the end and in chasing the criminals, including “the tyrant Moammar Gadhafi who knows no religion, no morals and no human values.”

Sadr then said that the convention played a positive role in conveying a united stance concerning the case to the international community. “The convention turned into a Lebanese and international protest,” she added. – The Daily Star