The downfall of Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi last year was greeted with great hopes for the rebirth of a nation. <br />But there was another hope felt by many inside and outside of the country - that the end of his 42-year rule would allow some light to be shed on the fate of a charismatic Lebanese cleric.<br /><br />Imam Musa al-Sadr, the leader of Lebanon's Shia Muslims, disappeared, along with two companions, in the summer of 1978 during a visit to Libya to meet Gaddafi.<br /><br />As in the Shia myth of the 'hidden imam', this modern-day cleric left his followers upholding his legacy and awaiting his return.<br /><br />The enigmatic cleric's popularity had transcended religions. Calling for social justice and development, in 1974 al-Sadr founded the Movement of the Deprived - aiming to unite people across communal lines. <br /><br />Archbishop Youssef Mounes of Lebanon's Catholic Information Centre remembers a sermon al-Sadr delivered in a church, in which he warned of an imminent sectarian war.<br /><br />"It was a surreal scene," Mounes says. "Seeing the turban of a Muslim imam under the cross in a Christian church. He delivered a sermon at a very significant time."<br /><br />Raed Sharaf al-Din, al-Sadr's nephew, recalls how his uncle believed that Lebanon's sectarian nature could cut both ways: "Imam al-Sadr used to say that sects are a blessing, but sectarianism is a curse. It's a blessing to have this diversity of sects in Lebanon. But when there is strife among them, sectarianism is the worst thing for a country."<br /><br />When civil war erupted in Lebanon in 1975, al-Sadr led anti-war protests. And as the war intensified, so too did al-Sadr's efforts to end it. As part of this, he toured the Arab world to plead the case for south Lebanon.<br /><br />In 1978, this took him to Libya where he was due to meet Gaddafi. <br /><br />He was never seen again. <br /><br />In the years since, conflicting stories have emerged about what happened to al-Sadr and his two companions. Now hopes have been raised that new evidence and witnesses will emerge to help solve the mystery of the missing imam.
