Report: Safa Met Judges Monday over Baalbek Nitrates, Not Port Case

Report: Safa Met Judges Monday over Baalbek Nitrates, Not Port Case

Senior Hizbullah official Wafiq Safa visited the Justice Palace on Monday and met with Higher Judicial Council chief Judge Suheil Abboud and State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, informed sources said.

The news comes after reports said that Safa has sent a threatening verbal message to the lead judge probing the Beirut port blast case, Tarek Bitar.

The sources told Asharq al-Awsat newspaper in remarks published Wednesday that the “threat” was made by Safa during his talks with Abboud and Oueidat. But State Prosecution sources told the daily that the Oueidat-Safa meeting “did not tackle the port blast investigations.”

“The Hizbullah official did not mention the measures that Judge Bitar is taking against politicians who are allies of the party,” the newspaper quoted the State Prosecution sources as saying.

“The discussions with Safa touched on the issue of seizing a truck carrying more than 20 tons of ammonium nitrate in a Bekaa town (Baalbek) that is party of Hizbullah’s environment,” the sources added.

“This discussion was made in the presence of State Commissioner to Military Court Judge Fadi Akiki, who is overseeing the preliminary investigations in this file,” the sources noted.

The news of Bitar receiving a threat from Safa had infuriated the families of the explosion victims