BEIRUT (Dispatches) -- Former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi shot Lebanese Shia cleric Imam Musa al-Sadr twice in the chest after Sadr criticized Gaddafi’s “Green Book” as absurd and its author as a “lunatic,” according to Iraqi researcher, historian and media figure Hamid Abdullah.
Abdullah detailed the alleged events surrounding Sadr’s disappearance, along with those of his two aides, Sheikh Muhammad Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine, in a program published on YouTube. He said the account was based on intelligence obtained by Iraqi intelligence services from a Libyan security official with links to Gaddafi’s regime.
According to Abdullah, the information originated with former Libyan colonel and Baathist Salim al-Hajani, who sought political asylum in Baghdad and provided Iraqi intelligence with information about Muhammad Ahmad al-Adl, a senior official in Libya’s external security apparatus. Following a meeting with Iraqi officials at the Iraqi embassy in Tunis, al-Adl allegedly became an informant and supplied information about Sadr’s case.
Abdullah said al-Adl obtained details from one of Gaddafi’s female bodyguards. He claimed the dispute began after Gaddafi’s government provided financial support to Lebanese organizations, including Sadr’s Amal Movement, while simultaneously seeking to promote the “Green Book” abroad.
Sadr reportedly read a copy of the book sent to Lebanon and privately dismissed its ideas as worthless. According to Abdullah, Libyan intelligence operatives inside the Amal Movement recorded his remarks and passed them to Gaddafi.
Sadr arrived in Libya on Aug. 25, 1978, following an invitation from the authorities. Abdullah claimed Gaddafi summoned him to a private meeting at the Bab al-Aziziya compound on Aug. 31, without his two companions.
During the meeting, Gaddafi allegedly confronted Sadr over his comments about the “Green Book.” Abdullah said Sadr stood by his criticism, prompting Gaddafi to become enraged, insult him and throw his turban to the ground before accusing him of being an Israeli agent.
According to Abdullah’s account, Gaddafi ordered guards to restrain Sadr and escort him away. He then allegedly followed them, drew a pistol and shot Sadr twice in the chest. Abdullah further claimed Gaddafi handed the weapon to an associate, Hosni al-Ahrari, and ordered him to kill Yaacoub and Badreddine.
The three bodies were allegedly transported and buried in the Bir al-Ghanam area of western Libya, Abdullah said. The claims have not been independently verified.