Libyan Delegation Reopens Talks in Lebanon on Missing Cleric, Gadhafi's Detained Son

FILE - Hannibal Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, watches an elite military unit exercise in Zlitan, Libya, Sept. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)
FILE - Hannibal Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, watches an elite military unit exercise in Zlitan, Libya, Sept. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)
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Libyan Delegation Reopens Talks in Lebanon on Missing Cleric, Gadhafi's Detained Son

FILE - Hannibal Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, watches an elite military unit exercise in Zlitan, Libya, Sept. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)
FILE - Hannibal Gadhafi, son of ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, watches an elite military unit exercise in Zlitan, Libya, Sept. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Abdel Magid al-Fergany, File)

A Libyan delegation visited Beirut this week to reopen talks with Lebanese officials on the fate of a prominent Lebanese cleric who has been missing in Libya for decades, and on the release of late dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s son who has been held in Lebanon for years, officials said.
The talks were aimed at reactivating a dormant agreement between Lebanon and Libya, struck in 2014, for cooperation in the probe of the 1978 disappearance of cleric Moussa al-Sadr, judicial and security officials said.
The fate of the cleric has been a long-standing sore point in Lebanon. His family believes he may still be alive in a Libyan prison, though most Lebanese presume al-Sadr, who would be 94 now, is dead, The Associated Press said.
The late Libyan ruler's son Hannibal Gadhafi has been held in Lebanon since 2015 after he was kidnapped from neighboring Syria, where he had been living as a political refugee. He was abducted by Lebanese militants demanding information about the fate of al-Sadr.
Lebanese authorities freed him but then detained him, accusing him of concealing information about al-Sadr’s disappearance.
A legal official familiar with the case said the Libyan delegation left Beirut after spending several days in Lebanon, where they met with the minister of justice and a judge heading a committee investigating al-Sadr’s disappearance.
The official described the talks as “positive” but did not elaborate or say if they achieved any results. The delegation is expected to return next week, he said, and added that Lebanese and Libyan authorities are treating the two cases as separate.
He said “there is no deal” so far for Gadhafi’s release.
All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.
The Libyan delegation's visit was not publicly announced by either Lebanon or Libya. Libya’s internationally recognized government, seated in Tripoli, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last August, Libya’s judicial authorities formally asked Lebanon to release Hannibal Gadhafi because of his deteriorating health after he went on a hunger strike in June and was hospitalized several times.
Human Rights Watch this month issued a statement calling for Gadhafi’s release. The rights group noted that Gadhafi was only 2 years old at the time of al-Sadr’s disappearance and held no senior position in Libya as an adult.
Gadhafi’s “apparent arbitrary detention on spurious charges after spending eight years in pretrial detention makes a mockery of Lebanon’s already strained judicial system,” Hanan Salah, the group's associate Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement.
“It’s understandable that people want to know what happened,” Salah said. “But it is unlawful to hold someone in pretrial detention for many years merely for their possible association with the person responsible for wrongdoing.”



Lebanon, Israel Ceasefire Deal Will Take Place in Three Phases and ‘Simultaneous’ Withdrawals

 Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
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Lebanon, Israel Ceasefire Deal Will Take Place in Three Phases and ‘Simultaneous’ Withdrawals

 Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Beirut's southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2024. (AP)

Informed sources revealed to Asharq Al-Awsat that US-President elect Donald Trump agreed on the steps that President Joe Biden’s administration will take to ensure the success of the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

Israel approved the ceasefire on Tuesday night after Lebanon had already agreed to it.

The sources, which followed up on the negotiations for the 60-day truce, said the steps call for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and their weapons from the South where the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon is deployed. In return, Israeli forces will withdraw from southern Lebanon.

More negotiations through American mediators will take place throughout the process.

The sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that Trump “gave his blessing” to the process during his meeting with Biden at the White House two weeks ago.

A committee led by the US will oversee the implementation of the withdrawal. France, Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL are also part of the committee.

Asharq Al-Awsat learned that Hezbollah’s withdrawal will take place in three 20-day phases. The first withdrawal will take place in the western sector.

It will coincide with an Israeli pullout from areas it occupied in that region. A strengthened Lebanese army force and UNIFIL troops will deploy in their place.

The second phase will cover the central sector and follow the same process.

The residents of the frontline southern villages will not be allowed to return to their homes immediately until they are deemed safe and after ensuring that no Hezbollah members or weapons remain there.

Residents of the so-called second and third line of villages south of the Litani River will be allowed to return to their homes immediately.

The source expected the US to play an “effective role” in the mechanism to oversee the withdrawal. It did not clarify whether any American forces will take part in the process.

It revealed that Britain and other countries will “exert special efforts to verify whether illegitimate weapons are being smuggled to Hezbollah.”

The five-member committee will not replace the tripartite committee already in place and that includes Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL.