Lebanon says retired senior officer with ties to capture of Ron Arad has vanished |
Lebanese authorities are investigating the recent disappearance of a retired security officer whose brother was apparently involved in the 1986 capture of an Israeli Air Force navigator, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP on Tuesday, amid speculation that Israeli agents could have nabbed him.
Israeli Air Force officer Ron Arad’s plane went down over southern Lebanon in October 1986, during the country’s 1975-1990 civil war. He was believed to have initially been captured and held by the Shiite Amal movement.
He has long been presumed dead, but his remains were never returned.
The Lebanese judicial official said on condition of anonymity that authorities were looking into the disappearance a week ago of retired General Security officer Ahmad Shukr amid conflicting information about his fate.
Initial investigations indicated Shukr “was lured from his hometown of Nabi Sheet” to a location near the city of Zahle, where he disappeared.
A source close to the family said Shukr is the brother of Hassan Shukr, who “was a fighter in the group that participated in capturing Israeli pilot Ron Arad after his plane was downed on October 16” in 1986.
Hassan Shukr was killed in 1988 in a battle between Israeli forces and local fighters, including those from the Iran-backed Hezbollah terror group,........