Egyptian journalist Ashraf El Ashri revealed new information regarding Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who was captured in 1986 after his plane crashed in southern Lebanon. In an article for the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Ahram," El Ashri stated that he conducted an interview in 1999 with Sheikh Muhammad Mahdi Shamseddine, who was the head of the Supreme Shiite Council in Lebanon. Shamseddine disclosed that "Arad died and was buried in a location known only to me and two others in the Shiite leadership."
El Ashri elaborated that he initiated the discussion with Shamseddine about his visit to Egypt and his interactions and relations with Egypt and Al-Azhar. This was done to prevent Shamseddine from knowing his actual intent for the conversation. In the last ten minutes, El Ashri surprised him with questions about pilot Ron Arad, which caused a noticeable tension.
He added, "After attempts to convince him, he responded and told me verbatim that Arad’s story has ended; he was kidnapped and tried by us, and we extracted everything we wanted to know about the Israeli enemy. After I asked several questions, he revealed several key facts and concluded our discussion before getting up by stating that Arad died and was buried in a location known only to me and two others in the Shiite leadership."
