Abdel Karim Obeid (; ; born 1957) is a

Sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

and

Imam Imam (; , '; : , ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a prayer leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Salah, Islamic prayers, serve as community leaders, ...

of the village of Jibchit in south

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

, high-place of Lebanese Shiism. He is also a member of

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

's Executive Council.

Life

Regarded as the spiritual leader and soldier of the 'Islamic Amal' (no relation with the similarly named secular

Amal movement The Amal Movement () is a Lebanese political party and militia affiliated mainly with the Shia community of Lebanon. It was founded by Musa al-Sadr and Hussein el-Husseini in 1974 as the "Movement of the Deprived." The party has been led by ...

, except that both catered to the

Lebanese Shia Lebanese Shia Muslims (), communally and historically known as ''matāwila'' (, plural of ''mutawālin''; pronounced as ''metouéle'' in Lebanese Arabic), are Lebanese people who are adherents of Shia Islam in Lebanon, which plays a major role ...

community) in the south of Tyre, close to

and related to the operations of capturing Western hostages since 1982. Obeid was captured on 28 July 1989 by nearly 25 Israeli commandos in his village, Jibchit. Danny Abdalla, a Lebanese criminal living in

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, who also admitted to having killed militant Ragheb Harb on behalf of the Israelis, claimed to have participated in the capture. As a result,

put Abdalla on their death list, and he was wanted in Lebanon as of 2012. Obeid was a long time held prisoner in Israel. In exchange of his release, Israel required information on the fate of the navigator Ron Arad (crashed in southern Lebanon in October 1986) at first, and later on for the bodies of the three soldiers abducted by Hezbollah in October 2000 at the Israeli-Lebanese border and for Elhanan Tannenbaum, who had been kidnapped at the same time in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. He was released in January 2004 with 20 other Lebanese prisoners, 400

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

prisoners, and a number of other nationals, as part of a deal to get the abducted soldiers and civilians back. He thanked Hezbollah and

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

ian leaders for acting for his release.Mehr News
(in Arabic, from an Iranian news agency)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeid, Abdel Karim 1957 births 1980s missing person cases Formerly missing people Hezbollah politicians Hostages Kidnapped Lebanese people Lebanese imams Lebanese Shia Muslims Living people Missing person cases in Lebanon Prisoners and detainees of Israel South Lebanon conflict (1985–2000) People of the Lebanese Civil War

Life

See also

References