Explosion at the port of Beirut: arrest warrant against a former minister

The judge in charge of the investigation into the explosion at the port of Beirut last year issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for the Lebanese deputy and former finance minister, Ali Hassan Khalil, who refused to report. present for questioning, a judicial source told AFP.

Judge Tareq Bitar's decision against Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior figure in the Shiite Amal movement, came the day after a violent attack by pro-Iranian Hezbollah leader, Amal's ally, on the magistrate, already taken to task by the Lebanese political class.

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The judge resumed this week his investigation into the devastating explosion on August 4, 2020 after the rejection by an appeal court of complaints from deputies, including Ali Hassan Khalil, aimed at relinquishing him.

The magistrate tries to take advantage of a period during which the deputies do not have parliamentary immunity, before the opening of the autumn session of the hemicycle on October 19.

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.

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Negligence and movements

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

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 "

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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.

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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, Ali Hassan 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.