Islamic Human Rights Commission

PRESS RELEASE

29th July 1997
For immediate release

Sheikh Obaid: Lebanon’s Forgotten Hostage
Vigil and Report on plight of political prisoners held by Israelis.

Today marks the eighth anniversary of the kidnap of Sheikh Abdulkareem Obaid from Lebanon, by Israeli commandos. He remains in solitary confinement, held without charge and refused access to a lawyer or his friends and family.

To commemorate this event the campaign to free sheikh obaid is holding a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy (Kensington High Street, London) on Friday 1st August from 2.30 – 5.30 p.m. It has also produced a report into the abduction of Obaid and others from Lebanon, and the atrocities perpetrated on them. The report will be available from 29th July.

The campaign finds it unacceptable that Obaid could be held in this manner for eight years, with little or no concern from the international community. The plight of Obaid is not unique. Mustafa Dirani, is another Lebanese national abducted from his home in 1994. In January this year a team of international lawyers from Justice International in the UK, went to Tel Aviv to find the pair, and seek their release. Their report on their trip and that of the campaign outline the difficulties and disappointments faced, as well as the progress that has been made.

The campaign to free sheikh obaid is calling for the release of all prisoners of conscience held by the Israelis, of whatever racial, political or confessional background.

For more information, please contact the Press Office on: 0181 931 1919
0958 522 196; 0958 60 74 75.