Lebanon court requests proof Gadhafi dead

A Lebanese court on Friday delayed its verdict in a case alleging Moammar Gadhafi's involvement in the 1978 disappearance of a Shiite cleric, pending confirmation of the Libyan leader's death. "Local, regional and international media on October 20 reported the killing of Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, who is wanted in the case" of the disappearance of (Musa) Sadr and three others, a court statement read. "In the interest of preserving the course of justice, we request Lebanon's foreign ministry confirm the death of Moammar Gadhafi through an official document." In 2008, Lebanon issued an arrest warrant for then-Libyan leader Gadhafi and six others over the disappearance of Sadr, a spiritual guide of Lebanon's Shiite community. The trial was held in absentia on Oct. 14, with the verdict now scheduled for Jan. 20. Sadr, would have been 83 this year, arrived in Libya on an official visit in August 1978, accompanied by Sheikh Mohammed Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddin. The three were seen for the last time on Aug. 31, 1978. His disappearance had been a source of tension between Lebanon and the Gadhafi regime, which always maintained that the cleric had left Libya for Italy. Two influential figures from Gadhafi's entourage, Ahmed Ramadan and Abdel Moneim al-Honi, have confirmed the Libyan leader had ordered Sadr killed. Gadhafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte on Oct. 20 after an eight-month armed rebellion inspired by a wave of pro-democracy protests that swept the Arab world.