Libyans close to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi have expressed surprise at Lebanon’s decision to issue in absentia arrest warrants against the son of slain leader Muammar Gaddafi and nine other Libyan defendants in the case of the disappearance of Imam Moussa Sadr and his two companions. “Saif was a little boy playing in the tent of his father when the incident took place,” the sources said. Lebanese Judge Zaher Hamadeh issued the warrants on Tuesday, saying he was following up on the remaining necessary legal proceedings to refer the warrants to Interpol. The Lebanese judiciary accuses the Gaddafi regime of responsibility into the disappearance of Sadr, who went missing with his two companions Sheikh Mohammed Yaacoub and Journalist Abbas Badr during a visit to Libya on August 31, 1978. In August 2016, Sadrs family filed a lawsuit against Gaddafi over his role in the disappearance of the senior cleric. An elder of the Gaddafa clan told Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that Saif al-Islam was six-years-old when Sadr and his companions disappeared. “Isn’t it enough that Hannibal, his brother, is in the custody of the Lebanese authorities on the same accusations, which lack a legal basis?” the elder, who wished to remain anonymous, asked. In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, founder of the Mandela Libya movement, Abdul Moneim Adernabat mockingly criticized the Lebanese judiciary. “How could Saif al-Islam been involved (in Sadr’s disappearance) at the age of five, while his brother, Hannibal, was only two?” he wondered.