Includes 3 former ministers

Charging the head of the caretaker government in the Beirut Port bombing case

Diab says he is "clear of conscience" about his handling of the Beirut bombing file.

Archives

Fadi Sawan, the judicial investigator in the Beirut Port bombing case, charged yesterday the caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, and three former ministers, on charges of "negligence, negligence and causing death" and wounding hundreds of people, according to what a judicial source reported to Agence France-Presse.

The judicial source explained that the concerned ministers are the former Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, and the former Ministers of Public Works and Transport Ghazi Zaiter and Youssef Fenianos, indicating that interrogation sessions with them as defendants will take place next week.

He said that Sawan’s decision came "after it was ascertained that they had received several written correspondence warning them not to procrastinate in keeping the ammonium nitrate in the Beirut port campus, and not to take the necessary measures to avoid the devastating explosion and its enormous damage."

The Lebanese authorities are investigating the explosion, which it attributed to storing huge quantities of ammonium nitrate for years in the port, without preventive measures, and it was found that officials at several levels were aware of the dangers of storing it, without moving a finger.

The explosion on August 4 killed more than 200 people and injured 6,500 others.

The four officials are the first politicians identified by Sawan in the Al-Marfa case, according to which at least 25 senior officials responsible for the port’s management and security were arrested.

The judicial source stated that the judicial investigator “briefed the office of Prime Minister Hassan Diab on the contents of the allegation, and informed him that he will move next Monday to the government headquarters for interrogation as a defendant.” The investigation sessions have also been scheduled for next week to interrogate the three ministers as “defendants”.

On the other hand, Hassan Diab said yesterday that he is "clear of conscience" regarding his handling of the Beirut port explosion file, after an investigation judge charged him with negligence.

He said in a statement that he is surprised by this targeting, which exceeds the person to the site, and will not allow the prime minister's position to be targeted by any party.

Follow our latest local and sports news, and the latest political and economic developments via Google news