BBC Eye reveals new details in Imam Musa al-Sadr’s 1978 disappearance

BBC Eye has uncovered new information in the case of Imam Musa al-Sadr’s disappearance in 1978, based on a photo of a corpse taken in 2011 at a secret morgue in Tripoli, Libya.

Lebanese-Swedish journalist Kassem Hamadeh said he saw 17 refrigerated bodies, but only one caught his attention due to its unusual height, which appeared close to the imam’s known stature of 1.98 meters (6 ft 5 in).

Hamadeh also noted that despite decomposition, the skin tone, hair, and facial features still resembled Sadr’s. The skull, he observed, appeared to have been struck with a heavy blow to the forehead or pierced by a bullet above the left eye—supporting the theory of assassination.

The corpse photo was analyzed using the Deep Face Recognition algorithm at the UK’s Bradford University.

When compared with photos of Imam Musa al-Sadr at different stages of his life, the image scored in the 60s out of 100—a “high probability” that the corpse was either Sadr himself or a close relative.

The test was repeated by comparing the photo with six family members of Sadr, and then with 100 random images of Middle Eastern men who shared similar features. According to the results, the family images showed significantly higher similarity than the random ones, with the strongest match being between the corpse and Imam Musa al-Sadr himself. The report also noted that the skull bore evidence of a fatal injury, reinforcing the assassination theory.

Hamadeh further revealed that he obtained a hair sample from the corpse in 2011, but according to the Amal Movement’s office, the sample was later lost.

Despite these findings, Sadr’s son Sayyid Sadr al-Din al-Sadr and the Amal Movement deny that the corpse belongs to him, insisting that he is still alive in a Libyan prison—though no evidence supports this claim.

To read the full BBC report, click here.