Explosion in Beirut: Prime Minister Diab and three ex-ministers indicted

The Lebanese judge in charge of the investigation into the devastating explosion at the port of Beirut on Thursday indicted the resigned Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers of negligence, the first charges of politicians announced four months after the tragedy.

According to a judicial source, Hassan Diab as well as the former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil (Finance), Ghazi Zaayter and Youssef Fenianos, who had both headed the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, were charged with "negligence and having caused deaths ".

Judge Fadi Sawan will begin questioning Hassan Diab on Monday and the former ministers the following days, this judicial source told AFP, who requested anonymity.

This is the first time that a sitting Prime Minister has been charged in connection with his duties in Lebanon. 

Hassan Diab resigned a few days after the explosion

Hassan Diab's office reacted immediately, claiming that the latter had "a clear conscience".

"He is sure to have his hands clean and to have handled the file (...) in a responsible and transparent manner. This surprising targeting goes beyond the person and attacks the post (of prime minister) as Phone."

He accused Judge Sawan of having "violated the Constitution and bypassed Parliament", adding that Hassan Diab had "provided all the information he had concerning this matter".

On August 4, an explosion at the port of Beirut, triggered by a fire in a warehouse that had housed tons of ammonium nitrate for years without precaution, left more than 200 dead and 6,500 injured.

It destroyed the port and parts of the capital.

Hassan Diab resigned a few days after the tragedy, under pressure from the streets, but today he continues to manage day-to-day affairs pending the formation of a new government by Saad Hariri.