Lebanon has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi over the disappearance 30 years ago of a senior Shiite cleric after a visit to Libya, officials said on Wednesday. Kadhafi was also indicted for allegedly "inciting the abduction" of Imam Mussa Sadr, the spiritual guide of Lebanon's Shiite community, investigating magistrate Samih el-Hajj said in a charge sheet.
An "arrest warrant" was issued for the Libyan ruler and six other Libyan suspects who were also indicted for taking part in the alleged abduction, AFP reported. Sadr disappeared while in Libya with two companions Mohammed Yacoub and Abbas Badreddin in 1978. There has been no trace of the three men since.
Libya maintains that the trio left for Italy on August 31, 1978 after their stay in Tripoli.
The arrest warrant against Kadhafi was issued in virtue of Lebanese law which allows magistrates to take such measures against suspects who fail to respond to an official summons.
© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
