Mustafa Dirani
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Mustafa Dirani was a member and in the position of "the head of security" in Amal. In 1987 he started contacts with Pro-Iran sources, and eventually a rift was created between him and the rest of the leadership of Amal. He was expelled from Amal and he established his own organization, the Believing Resistance.
Captured by Israeli commandos in 1994, he was held in administrative detention as a bargaining chip in exchange for Israeli servicemen held by Hezbollah. At the time, Israeli forces were in control of the southern Lebanon security buffer, in order to prevent the region from being used as a launching ground on attacks on Israel's Galilee region.
Mustafa Dirani was taken from his home in Lebanon by Israeli commandos. The day was the Muslim festival of Eid ul-Adha. Israel believed that Dirani had exclusive knowledge to the whereabouts of Israel Air Force pilot Ron Arad, who was captured by Dirani's men in 1986, and has been unheard of since then. During his interrogation by military officers, Dirani reportedly disclosed that Arad had been turned over first to a Hezbollah militia unit and then to Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who were in Lebanon at the time aiding Hezbollah guerrillas. But neither Iran nor any guerrilla group has ever offered any useful information about his fate. Allegedly, Dirani received $300,000 for transferring Ron Arad to the Iranians.
Dirani alleges that he was sodomized and tortured by his Israeli captors. He testified in an Israeli court to this abuse. These allegations were reported by the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and the Jerusalem Post. Although the International Red Cross was initially denied permission to see Dirani, a court order forced this to happen.
On January 29, 2004, in a German-mediated prisoner swap, Dirani along with 22 other Lebanese detainees, about 400 Palestinians, and 12 Israeli-Arab prisoners was released in exchange for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and Israeli businessman Elchanan Tenenbaum.
[edit] References
- Mustafa Dirani v. Israel, Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, U.N. Doc. E/CN.4/2002/77/Add.1 at 8 (2000). 13 April 2000.
- Moshe Reinfeld. "Obeid, Dirani to be Allowed Red Cross Visits" August 24, 2001.
- The Guardian. "Facility 1391: Israel's Secret Prison" 14 November 2003.
- BBC News "Mid-East prisoners welcomed home" 29 January 2004.
- Peter Enav. Associated Press. "Militant Says He Was Abused by Israel" 27 January 2004.
- Al Jazeera. "Hizb Allah leader says Israel tortured him" 27 January 2004.
- Matthew Gutman and Tovah Lazaroff. Jerusalem Post. "Dirani to Testify on Rape Charges" 27 January 2004.]
