Ahmad Khanji

My name is Ahmad. I was strongly passionate about electronics. I could spend hours playing around with tools and performing experiments all around the house. Once, I even made our house door open at the touch of a button. It seems very ordinary nowadays but back then it was very innovative.

At that time, I was working at Al Amin Roastery to earn my living. This provided me with the means to support my mother and my two brothers and sister; with whom I was living then in Mina, Tripoli. We were all very close to each other; as our bond had tightened after my father passed away.

On September 1985, the security situation in Tripoli deteriorated. I left Tripoli for safety reasons and went to Akkar to stay with one of my sisters. My older siblings were already living in Akkar so I wanted my mother and my younger sister to come along as I knew they would be safer there. Determined to get them to Akkar, I left for the Mina with two of my friends. On our way to Tripoli, we were stopped at the Mallouleh checkpoint.

A few days later, my relatives found our abandoned car by that checkpoint. The soldiers positioned there told them that we had been taken in for questioning and that we would be released soon. I was 24 years old.

Since that day, my sister often dreams of me. In her dreams I come back home in ripped clothes, all filthy and emaciated. I ask her why she had not looked for me and why she had kept me waiting for so long.

My name is Ahmed Khanji, my sister is Jathiba. She has been blaming herself for years for not having found me. Do not let my story end here.