cleric

The cleric’s diplomats would voyage forth, brandishing their leader’s skepticism as a means of extracting concessions from foreigners.

The Lebanese authorities seized Mr Gaddafi, now 49, in 2015, accusing him of concealing information about the fate of a Lebanese Shia cleric who disappeared in Libya in 1978, when he was just two.

In the madrassa, he recalls mullahs - Muslim clerics - preaching heavily on a specific topic - martyrdom.

Hundreds of mourners walked with coffins draped in colourful cloth into the compound of the Arerti Mariam church while clerics conducted burial rituals.

His followers gave him the title of imam, an unusual honour for a living Shia cleric and one bestowed on him in recognition of his work on behalf of the Shia community.