Berri's Aide Hits Back after Yaaqoub's Brother Launches Accusations

A brother of jailed ex-MP Hassan Yaaqoub launched a series of accusations Sunday against Speaker Nabih Berri's AMAL Movement in connection with the former MP's detention by Lebanese authorities.

“The case is political par excellence and his judicial file is totally empty,” Yaaqoub's brother Ali said at a press conference.

“Some parties are seeking to accuse Syria of being behind Hassan Yaaqoub's arrest and this is incorrect,” he added.

Accusing certain parties of “seeking to maintain the equation of keeping Hannibal Gadhafi in detention to keep our son jailed,” Ali Yaaqoub slammed what he called “the Shiite silence over this case.”

He also claimed that the AMAL Movement is “contacting its friends and individuals close to our family to ask them not to show solidarity with us.”

AMAL is “tapping the family's phone lines in a breach of personal privacy,” Yaaqoub charged.

He also alleged that Hannibal Gadhafi's lawyer Bushra al-Khalil had called Berri's chief of guards Brig. Gen. Youssef Dimashq on January 4.

“Only minutes later, (Berri's aide) Ahmed Baalbaki called her, after which she headed to attend a meeting at the Ain al-Tineh Palace,” Yaaqoub added.

“We don't know who she met there, but supposing she met with Baalbaki, what justifies this communication with the rival's lawyer?” he went on to say.

“If Berri has knowledge of these things that's a disaster, and if he doesn't know it's a bigger disaster,” Yaaqoub said.

But Baalbaki issued a statement hours later denying Yaaqoub's claims and clarifying AMAL's role in the case.

“Brig. Gen. Youssef Dimashq did not receive any phone call from the lawyer Bushra al-Khalil and I have not met with the aforementioned lawyer or received any phone call from her,” Baalbaki stressed.

“The only phone call we have received in this case was during the abduction of Hannibal Gadhafi when they called us to exchange him for money,” he clarified.

“We rejected the proposal because at that point we became sure that the kidnap was for money and not for the sake of the cause,” Baalbaki added.

Hannibal Gadhafi was kidnapped in a Syrian area near the Lebanese border on December 11 before being smuggled into Lebanon's Bekaa region. He was handed over hours later to Lebanese security forces.

Lebanese authorities have charged Hannibal with withholding information about the disappearance of revered Shiite cleric and founder of the AMAL Movement Moussa al-Sadr, who vanished in Libya in 1978 along with two companions.

A security source told AFP that investigators discovered that ex-MP Yaaqoub had orchestrated an elaborate scheme to seize Gadhafi from Syria and bring him to Lebanon.

Yaaqoub was arrested after several days on charges of involvement in Hannibal's abduction.

The ex-MP is the son of Sheikh Mohammed Yaaqoub – one of the two companions who disappeared with al-Sadr in Libya in 1978.

Al-Sadr's Libya visit was paid upon the invitation of then Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi – Hannibal's father. The three were seen lastly on August 31.

They were never heard from again.

The Lebanese judiciary had indicted Moammar Gadhafi in 2008 over al-Sadr's disappearance, although Libya had consistently denied responsibility, claiming that the imam and his companions had left Libya for Italy.

Y.R.