Abdel Karim Obeid
{{Short description|Lebanese imam}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Abdel Karim Obeid
| image = השייח' עובייד במטוס לגרמניה (cropped).jpg
| caption = Obeid in 2004
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1957}}
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_place = Lebanon
| death_date =
| death_place =
| death_cause =
| body_discovered =
| education =
| occupation = Imam, sheikh
| spouse =
| partner =
| known_for = Abduction by Israeli commandos
}}
Abdel Karim Obeid ({{IPAc-en|audio=En-us-Abdul Karim Obeid from Lebanon pronunciation (Voice of America).ogg|ˈ|æ|b|d|ʊ|l|_|ˈ|k|ɑː|r|iː|m|_|oʊ|ˈ|b|eɪ|d}}; {{langx|ar|الشيخ عبد الكريم عبيد}}; born 1957){{cite web|url=http://www.rightsobserver.org/files/SOLIDA_Joint_Mission_FIDH_FR_2001.pdf|title=Liban: L'attente continue pour les familles de détenus et de disparus|website=Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de l'Homme|language=French|page=9|date=2001}} is a Sheikh and Imam of the village of Jibchit in south Lebanon, high-place of Lebanese Shiism. He is also a member of Hezbollah's Executive Council.https://archive.today/20241030230917/https://www.almanar.com.lb/12507739
Life
Regarded as the spiritual leader and soldier of the 'Islamic Amal' (no relation with the similarly named secular Amal movement, except that both catered to the Lebanese Shia community) in the south of Tyre, close to Hezbollah 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.{{cite news |title=Israelis kidnap top Shiite clergyman |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tUxTAAAAIBAJ&sjid=PYQDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6142,5036232&dq=kidnapping+by+hezbollah&hl=en |accessdate=16 December 2012 |newspaper=The Deseret News |location=Beirut |agency=UPI}} Danny Abdalla, a Lebanese criminal living in Denmark, who also admitted to having killed militant Ragheb Harb on behalf of the Israelis, claimed to have participated in the capture.{{cite web|author=Karsten Gøttler|url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/112/article986694.ece|title=Abdalla har uindskrænket magt|publisher=Ekstra Bladet|date=19 January 2011|accessdate=16 December 2012}} As a result, Hezbollah put Abdalla on their death list, and he was wanted in Lebanon as of 2012.{{cite web|url=http://ekstrabladet.dk/112/article110531.ece|title=Udvist til Dødsdom|publisher=Ekstra Bladet|date=19 January 2011|accessdate=16 December 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.
He was released in January 2004 with 20 other Lebanese prisoners, 400 Palestinian prisoners, and a number of other nationals, as part of a deal to get the abducted soldiers and civilians back. He thanked Hezbollah and Iranian leaders for acting for his release.[http://www.mehrnews.com/ar/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=55943 Mehr News] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524080836/http://www.mehrnews.com/ar/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=55943 |date=May 24, 2011 }} (in Arabic, from an Iranian news agency)
See also
References
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obeid, Abdel Karim}}
Category:1980s missing person cases
Category:Formerly missing people
Category:Hezbollah politicians
Category:Kidnapped Lebanese people
Category:Lebanese Shia Muslims
Category:Missing person cases in Lebanon
Category:Prisoners and detainees of Israel