BEIRUT: Slain Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s right-hand man,
Ahmad Ramadan, says his former boss most likely ordered the killing of
Lebanon’s Imam Musa Sadr, naming the influential figure’s alleged killers and
saying some were still alive and well.
In an interview with Dubai-based Al-Aan TV, Ramadan, a top
Gadhafi aide and former head of the regime’s intelligence office, testified
that Sadr had arrived in Libya and that Gadhafi had received him in his office.
“Of course, I testify that he had arrived in Libya. Moammar had
received him in his office. Those who had received him were Taha Sharif Bin
Amer, Maj. Gen. Faraj Abou Ghaliah and Maj. Gen. Bachir Hamid,” Ramadan said.
Ramadan said Amer had been Gadhafi’s communications secretary,
Ghaliah, the leader’s administrative secretary, and Hamid a member of the
country’s intelligence.
Ramadan, who appeared frail and spoke with a hoarse voice, said
Amer had died but that two others were still alive.
“Bachir and Faraj Abou Ghalieh are still there and they were the
ones who took them,” Ramadan said, referring to Sadr and his two companions who
went missing in 1978.
“They were the ones who liquidated him,” Ramadan told his
interlocutor.
“They received him at the airport and brought him to meet with
Moammar. The meeting lasted two hours and a half. Moammar and Taha stayed at
the office, the other two transferred the guests,” Ramadan said.
“[I am] 100 percent [sure] that the talk that we heard is that
he, Musa Sadr, had been liquidated. [I had heard this] from some sources at the
time and one of them was Taha, God bless his soul,” he added.
In an article published Sept. 13, Time Magazine reported that
Ramadan had been captured by Libyan rebels, describing him as the "man
responsible for relaying all of the dictator’s orders until the fall of
Tripoli."
The report said Ramadan had tried to shoot himself in the head.
Ramadan survived and was taken to Tripoli’s central hospital. Ramadan was later
transferred to the rebel’s Tripoli command center and central prison facility.
Ramadan said that the two officials, Abou Ghaliah and Hamid,
were the ones who escorted Sadr outside the office and had “liquidated” him.
“I don't know where he was buried. But it is rumored that it is
either in Janzour or Sabha,” Ramadan said, adding that Abou Ghaliah might have
been captured by rebels.
Asked whether the order to liquidate Sadr was made by Gadhafi,
Ramadan said: "Maybe, because after the meeting, they came and he
[Gadhafi] said come and take them.”
He also said that all stories that surfaced regarding the fate
of Sadr were merely cover-ups, accusing Mohammad al-Rahibi, then head of the
Internal Security, of fabricating the stories.
“He was with them. But he is dead,” Ramadan said, referring to
Rahibi.
“There are complete files at the Justice and Foreign
[department] and in the Gadhafi's Association for Human Rights,” he added.
In response to a question from The Daily Star, the journalist
who interviewed Ramadan, Jenan Moussa, said Ramadan told her that the reason
behind Sadr’s killing was prompted by Gadhafi’s wishes to divide the Shiite
community.
Sadr, a charismatic leader and one of the pioneers of Shiite
empowerment in Lebanon, Sheikh Mohammad Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine
disappeared in Libya in August 1978 when on an official visit from Gadhafi to
the North African country.
Following his disappearance, the relationship between Lebanon
and Libya had been severed under Gadhafi’s rule but reversed under the National
Transitional Council, a group made of opponents of Gadhafi who were bent on the
strongman’s removal.
On Oct. 23, a
Lebanese delegation traveled to Libya following the capture and death of
Gadhafi at the hands of rebels. The delegation has since returned but there has
been no official statement about their visit to the North African country.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2011/Nov-08/153384-gaddafis-right-hand-names-killers-of-moussa-sadr-report.ashx#axzz1dCrFWX7J
No comments:
Post a Comment