Beirut port probe suspended again as judge issues warrant for ex-minister
Former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil was sanctioned by the US government last year for corruption.
The lead investigator for the 2020 Beirut port explosion issued an arrest warrant Tuesday for a former government minister, shortly before the probe was suspended again.
Judge Tarek Bitar issued the warrant in absentia for former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil after the latter failed to appear before investigators, the official National News Agency reported.
Later the same day, Bitar learned that Khalil’s lawyers and member of parliament Ghazi Zeiter had sued him. This prompted the investigation to be suspended again, according to the agency. The probe also temporarily stopped earlier in the month.
The blast occurred when 2,750 tons of the flammable fertilizer ammonium nitrate caught fire in a warehouse on Aug. 4, 2020. More than 200 people died and the explosion devastated Lebanon, which was already and is still suffering from a horrible economic crisis. Many Lebanese were livid at the government for allowing so much flammable material to be stored in the country’s main population center.
