Beirut port blast probe faces derailment for second time

Beirut port blast probe faces derailment for second time

A probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion faced being derailed for the second time this year on Monday when a senior politician wanted for questioning filed a complaint doubting the lead investigator’s impartiality.

The move followed a smear campaign by Lebanon’s political class against judge Tarek Bitar, who was appointed after his predecessor was forced out following similar accusations by officials he wanted to question about suspected negligence.

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More than a year since the blast, attempts to bring any senior official to account for the more than 200 lives lost and thousands injured have made no progress, with powerful parties including the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah and others in the ruling elite alleging bias in the investigation.

The blast, one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, was caused by a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate that was unsafely stored at the port from 2013.

The probe was frozen on Monday on the basis of the complaint by Nohad Machnouk, a Sunni Muslim lawmaker and former interior minister Bitar wanted to question on suspicion of negligence.

A judicial source told Reuters the investigation must now remain on hold until the court of