Could this be the body of Imam Musa al-Sadr?

In a development that could rewrite decades of history, a BBC investigation has traced a chilling lead to a secret morgue in Tripoli, where a decomposed body—photographed in 2011—may hold the key to one of the Arab world’s most enduring mysteries: the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr, the charismatic Shiite cleric and founder of Lebanon’s Amal Movement, vanished during an official visit to Libya in August 1978, alongside journalist Abbas Bader el-Dine and Sheikh Muhammad Yaqub. Their disappearance has haunted relations between Lebanon and Libya for nearly half a century, fuelling conspiracy theories, political accusations, and diplomatic crises.

A photograph and a breakthrough

The investigation began with a single photograph. Qasem Hamade, a Swedish-Lebanese journalist reporting from Tripoli in 2011, said he was led to a refrigerated chamber in a building “no one was supposed to know about.” Inside, he counted 17 corpses—one of which stopped him in his tracks.

“The face, even in decay, was striking,” Hamade told the BBC. “It resembled Imam al-Sadr, and the attendant whispered: ‘This could be him.’”

Hamade photographed the corpse and discreetly plucked several strands of hair for DNA testing, hoping to break open a case that had gone cold for decades.

Science steps in

The BBC later commissioned a forensic analysis at the University of Bradford in the UK, where Professor Hassan Ugail’s team applied a facial recognition algorithm honed over two decades.

The results were striking: the image scored in the 60s on a 100-point scale, a “high probability” match to al-Sadr. The team compared the morgue image against photographs of al-Sadr at different ages, his relatives, and a control group of Middle Eastern men. The closest match remained the body from Tripoli.

Hamade recalled visible injuries to the skull, suggesting blunt trauma or a gunshot wound: “There was a clear mark above the left eye,” he said.

The vanished DNA

Those hair strands could have resolved the case, but they reportedly vanished. Hamade said he handed them to senior figures in the Amal Movement, led by Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri, who later informed him that the samples were lost due to a “technical error.”

This revelation has only deepened suspicions that the truth about al-Sadr’s fate is being deliberately obscured.

Arrests and intimidation

In March 2023, the BBC team travelled to Tripoli to trace the morgue’s location and gather testimony. They located the building but were swiftly arrested by Libyan intelligence operatives, accused of espionage, and held in solitary confinement for six days before being released under diplomatic pressure.

Sources close to the investigation said Libya’s intelligence apparatus remains heavily influenced by Gaddafi-era loyalists, many of whom have little interest in revisiting one of the regime’s darkest chapters.

A case that won’t die

Al-Sadr’s disappearance remains one of the Middle East’s most divisive cases. He arrived in Libya on 25 August 1978 to meet Gaddafi, reportedly to discuss the Palestinian presence in southern Lebanon during the civil war. Six days later, he was last seen being driven away in a Libyan government vehicle. Gaddafi’s regime later claimed he had flown to Rome, a claim that Italian authorities debunked.

Former Libyan Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul Jalil has publicly said that Gaddafi ordered al-Sadr’s execution, but no definitive evidence has emerged. Gaddafi, until his death in 2011, denied involvement.

Al-Sadr’s son, Sadr al-Din al-Sadr, has rejected the BBC’s findings, arguing that his father was alive and imprisoned in Libya as late as 2011, though no proof has been presented.

Legacy and unanswered questions

Imam Musa al-Sadr’s influence on Lebanon’s Shiite community and regional politics cannot be overstated. Known as the “Imam of the poor,” his leadership transformed a marginalised community into a political force. His mysterious disappearance has since become a symbol of political secrecy, international intrigue, and the legacy of Gaddafi’s Libya.

The BBC’s findings add weight to theories that al-Sadr was killed in Libya, but without DNA confirmation, the case remains unresolved. For Lebanon and Libya, the unanswered question of his fate continues to cast a shadow over diplomacy and trust between the two nations.