BEIRUT (Daily Star) -- Imam Musa Sadr and his companions are still alive, Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri said at a rally Wednesday to mark 39 years since the movement founder disappeared.
Berri, who is also the speaker of parliament, was delivering a speech during an event commemorating the 1978 disappearance of Sadr and his companions, Sheikh Muhammad Yaacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine during a trip to Libya. Berri said he believes that they are still alive and called for continuing efforts to find them.
Sadr was the founder of the Amal Movement and former speaker Hussein al-Husseini was appointed to lead the party after 1978. Berri, who is the current speaker, then succeeded Husseini.
Thousands of Amal Movement supporters gathered in Beirut, waving Amal flags and cheering Berri who spoke from behind a bullet proof screen.
He also called on the Lebanese media to follow up on Sadr’s disappearance adding that Lebanese judicial system is also looking into the case. However, he said that the committee formed to follow the case hasn’t been able to visit Libya due to the political instability.
"It followed up on the case from nearby countries,” he said.
Berri began his speech by calling for a moment of silence for fallen Lebanese Army soldiers and Hezbollah fighters killed in recent offensives against militants on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
The speaker also defended the decisions of former Prime Minister Tammam Salam and former Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi who have come under fire over the handling of the 2014 kidnapping of over 30 servicemen by Daesh and the then Nusra Front. They have been criticized for failing to exert efforts to recover them at the time.
"The former government is similar to this government," Berri said explaining that the constituents are the same.
"Let us all celebrate together and shoulder to shoulder,” he said saying that the victory came as a result of the Army’s and Hezbollah’s efforts.

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