LONDON: The family of the missing Lebanese cleric Imam Musa Al-Sadr has dismissed a recent BBC documentary that suggested he died in Libya, condemning the use of an artificial intelligence-generated image claimed to be him.
In a statement released Tuesday by the Imam Musa Al-Sadr Research and Studies Center, the family said the BBC shared the AI facial recognition analysis — a comparison between a decomposed corpse photo from Tripoli’s Al-Zawiya hospital in 2011 and archival images of Al-Sadr and relatives — with them and Lebanon’s official follow-up committee without consent.
“During filming, as the Imam’s family and the follow-up committee, we confirmed that the image is not of the Imam due to evident differences in the shape of the face, hair color, and other obvious distinctions,” the family said, adding that they had the confirmation “the moment we saw the video clip.”
Al-Sadr, founder of the Amal Movement, disappeared on Aug. 31, 1978, in Libya alongside two companions, a week after they arrived to meet with Libyan government officials. They were last seen leaving a Tripoli hotel in a government vehicle.
Despite various claims, including Libyan assertions that he traveled to Rome — which have been widely disproved — his fate remains unknown.
Many Lebanese Shia believe that then-Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi ordered Al-Sadr’s killing, a claim that Libya has consistently denied.
The case has fueled deep political tensions between Lebanon and Libya and remains a highly sensitive and unresolved matter.
Some experts contend that Al-Sadr, an influential Iranian-Lebanese cleric, was on the verge of using his influence to guide Iran — and by extension the region — toward a more moderate path when he vanished on the eve of the Iranian revolution.
The BBC film, part of its Eye Investigations series, centers on testimony from Swedish-Lebanese reporter Kassem Hamade, who during the uprising of the Arab Spring in 2011 claimed to have photographed a tall corpse in a secret Tripoli morgue resembling Al-Sadr. He argued that despite decomposition, the skin tone, hair and facial features the dead body still resembled Sadr’s — who stood at 1.98 meters.
He also took a hair sample reportedly handed to the office of Lebanese parliamentary speaker, Nabih Berri, but officials later said that he sample was lost due to a “technical error.”
With what the family described as “full cooperation” with the BBC by providing photos, documents and resources, the outlets submitted Hamade’s photograph for AI analysis.
According to Professor Ugail, the software indicated a “high probability” that the body was either Al-Sadr or a close relative, a claim firmly denied by Al-Sadr’s family.
His son, Sayyed Sadreddine Sadr, said the 2011 morgue photograph was “evident(ly)” not his father.
“It also contradicts the information we have after this date … that he is still alive, held in a Libyan jail,” he said — though no evidence was ever offered to support this claim.
To address further questions, Judge Hassan Shami, representing the official committee and the family, is scheduled to appear on BBC Arabic to provide clarification.
