Red Cross urged to secure Sadr release

Islam Times reports from Press TV: In a letter to ICRC President Jacob Kallenberger, the members of the group called on the humanitarian organization to take necessary measures to secure the release of the highly revered senior cleric, ISNA reported Tuesday.

Seyyed Mohammad Hossein Sadr, the secretary of the group, said that the letter was submitted to ICRC representatives on behalf of the members of his organization.

Given the fact that Imam Moussa al-Sadr is a global figure, the ICRC has been urged to do its utmost to secure his release, he went on to say.

He further pointed out that ICRC representatives met with members of the front, during which they promised to spare no efforts to gain information on his fate.

Meanwhile, Peter Ritter, Head of the Red Cross Committee in Iran, said that the committee will pursue the fate of the cleric as soon as they are allowed to visit the Libyan capital, Tripoli.

Imam Moussa al-Sadr, the founder of Lebanon's Amal movement, was kidnapped during an official visit to Tripoli to meet with officials from the government of Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi in August 1978.

He is believed to have been abducted on the orders of Gaddafi.

In 2008, the government in Beirut issued an arrest warrant for Gaddafi over al-Sadr's disappearance.

Libya has previously denied any involvement in the case and thereby ignoring calls for more information about his suspicious disappearance.