The particularly eventful investigation into the devastating explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020 resumed last week.

A possible resumption after the rejection by an appeal court of complaints from deputies seeking to be dismissed.

Among them: the deputy and former Lebanese Minister of Finance, Ali Hassan Khalil, against whom the judge responsible for carrying out these investigations issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday, said a judicial source.

Judge Tareq Bitar's decision comes against this senior leader of the Shiite movement Amal, the day after a violent attack by the leader of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, an ally of Amal, against the magistrate, already attacked by the Lebanese political class.

The latter accused him of politicizing the investigation and asked for his replacement.

The investigation suspended again

Tareq Bitar is trying to take advantage of a period during which MPs do not have parliamentary immunity, before the opening of the hemicycle's autumn session on October 19.

However, the judge was finally forced on Tuesday, a few hours after issuing the arrest warrant, to suspend his investigations.

Indeed, Ali Hassan Khalil and another deputy and ex-minister of Amal, Ghazi Zaayter have filed new complaints before the court of cassation, said a judicial source.

Politicians of all stripes refuse to be questioned by the judge, even though authorities have blamed the tragedy on the careless storage of huge quantities of ammonium nitrate.

The explosion left more than 200 dead, more than 6,500 injured, and devastated entire districts of the capital.

Suspected of "negligence and breaches"

On September 27, Judge Bitar was forced to suspend the investigation after a complaint from MP and former Sunni Interior Minister Nohad al-Machnouk, suspected of "negligence and shortcomings".

Ali Hassan Khalil and another ex-minister and deputy of the Amal movement, Ghazi Zaayter, also suspected in the investigation, had also filed a complaint against the judge.

Ghazi Zaayter and Machnouk are called to appear before the judge on Wednesday.

Blamed for criminal negligence, the Lebanese authorities rejected any international investigation, before relieving the first investigator in February following the indictment of senior officials.

Since inheriting the case, Tareq Bitar has summoned ex-prime minister, Hassan Diab, and four ex-ministers for indictment.

On September 16, he issued an unenforced arrest warrant against the former Minister of Transport, Youssef Fenianos, a member of a Christian party close to Hezbollah.

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  • Middle East

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