The Daily Star - Sadr killed and buried in Libya: former Gadhafi associate - February 23, 2011

Ex-colonel says his brother-in-law was tasked with transporting cleric’s body for burial
By Elias Sakr

BEIRUT: Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s agents assassinated Lebanese influential Shiite cleric Imam Musa Sadr and buried him in the southern city of Sabha, Gadhafi’s associate Abdel-Monem al-Houni said in remarks to be published Wednesday.

Houni, a former colonel who along with a group of officers aided Gadhafi in his September 1969 coup to oust the then-governing monarchy, said his brother-in-law former Lieutenant Colonel Najemeddine Yazeji was tasked with transporting Sadr’s body to Sabha for burial.

In remarks to pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat, Houni said Yazeji, Gadhafi’s former private jet pilot, was in turn killed shortly after by Libyan intelligence officers to prevent the disclosure of any information concerning Sadr’s case.

Lebanon’s Judicial Council indicted in 2009 Gadhafi and 16 of his aides in the case and a trial date for has been set for March 2011. Ties between Libya and Lebanon have been cold ever since Sadr’s disappearance in 1978.

The Libyan regime denies the allegation and claims that Sadr left the country for Italy. In 2006, Italy completed probes in the Sadr case and concluded that there was no proof of Libyan involvement.

Houni’s comments about Sadr, the founder of Lebanon’s Amal Movement, come at a time when Gadhafi continues to fight bloody battles against his people to hold on to power.

As of Tuesday, many state and military officials have resigned from their posts and rallied alongside the people after the Libyan leader ordered the military to attack popular protests.

Meanwhile, Lebanese officials, political parties and civil society groups condemned for the second consecutive day what they described as “Gadhafi’s genocide” against the Libyan people and called on the Arab league and the international community to take tangible measures to end war crimes.

President Michel Sleiman underscored the need to resort to dialogue rather than violence in a bid to resolve disputed issues “because confrontational means only lead to further violence and complications.”