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  Muammar Gaddafi’s son briefly abducted in Lebanon

Muammar Gaddafi’s son briefly abducted in Lebanon

AP
Published : Dec 13, 2015, 2:49 am IST
Updated : Dec 13, 2015, 2:49 am IST

A son of Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi was briefly kidnapped in Lebanon by militants demanding information about the fate of a Shia cleric who went missing in Libya decades ago, a security offic

A son of Libya’s late leader Muammar Gaddafi was briefly kidnapped in Lebanon by militants demanding information about the fate of a Shia cleric who went missing in Libya decades ago, a security official and local TV stations said on Friday.

Hannibal Gaddafi appeared in a video aired late Friday on local Al-Jadeed TV saying anyone with information about Imam Moussa al-Sadr should come forward. Gaddafi appeared to have been beaten up and had black eyes but said in the video he is “in good health, happy and relaxed.”

Later on Friday, a senior security official said the police collected Gaddafi from the northeastern city of Baalbek where he was being held by the Shia militants, whose affiliation was not immediately known.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Gaddafi was being brought to Beirut.

Al-Sadr’s 1978 disappearance has been a long-standing sore point in Lebanon. The imam’s family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr is dead. Today he would be 87 years old.

Al-Sadr was the founder of a Shia political and military group that took part in the long Lebanese civil war that began in 1975, largely pitting Muslims against Christians.

Location: Lebanon, Beirut