Lebanon weighs legal path forward in Hannibal Gaddafi–Musa al-Sadr case

Lebanon is examining a "legal and judicial solution" to the case of Hannibal Gaddafi, who has been held in the country for a decade in connection with the 1978 disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, according to the head of the official follow-up committee on the case.

Judge Hassan al-Shami told Asharq Al-Awsat that while the committee had no role in deciding the outcome, "the judiciary alone determines the solution", stressing that investigative judge Zaher Hamadeh "rejects any political settlement" and would not accept a deal or compromise.

Hannibal Gaddafi, the son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, was arrested in Beirut in 2015 under an Interpol notice.

He was later questioned in the Sadr case, during which he provided what Shami described as "very important information", though he withheld the identity of those who ordered the abduction.

Gaddafi has been charged not with involvement in the original kidnapping, since he was a child at the time, but with withholding information.

Shami rejected claims that Gaddafi is being mistreated, saying he lives under "five-star" conditions, with family visits, security protection, and access to phones, internet, and even media interviews from detention.

The Lebanese judge accused Libyan authorities of obstructing progress by failing to cooperate with judicial requests and withholding investigation files promised under a bilateral agreement.

"The lack of Libyan cooperation has prolonged his detention and crippled the case," he said.

According to Shami, Gaddafi has revealed details about the plot to stage Sadr's disappearance, including the name of a man who impersonated the imam to suggest he had travelled to Italy.

He also claimed that Sadr was held for years in a security compound in Janzour, west of Tripoli, before being moved to other detention sites. Lebanese investigators say their own findings largely align with these accounts, though Libya has refused to share full documentation.

Shami stressed that only a legal resolution is possible.

"Any talk of a political deal is rejected. This case will not be desecrated by money or compromise."