Beirut, Sept 03: Libya has decided to sever diplomatic ties with Lebanon owing to pressure for it to reveal the fate of a missing Lebanese cleric, a Libyan Embassy official said today. Hussein al-Sharif, the charge D'Affaires at the office of Arab fraternity - as the Libyan Embassy is called, said the decision was made after recent statements by Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Berri and Nasrallah called on Libya to reveal the whereabouts of Imam Mousa Sadr, the spiritual leader of Lebanon's Shiite Muslim community who disappeared during a visit to Libya in 1978. Berri and Nasrallah are Shiites.

``Our decision was taken as a result of recent speeches made by Lebanese officials and some editorials that appeared in the (local) newspapers that contained improper words and style,'' al-Sharif told press. Lebanese Foreign Minister Jean Obeid today refused to comment on the reported closure of the Libyan Embassy.

``You (the Libyan regime) have admitted the 1988 aggression. Why do you ignore the 1978 aggression?'' Berri asked a rally on Sunday that was attended by thousands of people in the eastern Lebanese city Baalbek. The rally commemorated Sadr's disappearance. Bureau Report