Former Lebanon PM Diab charged with homicide in 2020 port explosion

A judge investigating the 2020 Beirut blasts has charged Lebanon’s public prosecutor, the prime minister and other senior current and former officials in connection with the devastating explosion, judicial sources and court subpoenas show.

Judge Tarek Bitar unexpectedly resumed the inquiry on Monday after being paralyzed for more than a year due to political resistance and legal complaints filed by high-ranking officials to be questioned.

The explosion on August 4, 2020, was caused by hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored at the port in poor condition after being unloaded there in 2013. So far, no senior official has been held accountable.

Bitar charged former prime minister Hassan Diab and a former minister with possible premeditated murder, according to a court summons seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

They are also suing Attorney General Ghassan Oweidat, head of Lebanon’s domestic intelligence agency Major General Abbas Ibrahim, former army commander Jean Kahwaji and current and former security and justice officials, court sources said.

It was not immediately clear what the charges were, but one court source said Bitar found Oweidat did not act responsibly with regard to ammonium nitrate.

Reuters could not immediately reach Diab or Oweidat for comment. Ibrahim declined to comment on the alleged report when contacted by Reuters on Monday. Kahwaji declined to comment.

All those previously accused by Bitar have denied wrongdoing.

The process stops and starts

Oweidat on Tuesday sent an official letter to Bitar saying Bitar’s investigation remains suspended and no official decision has been made on whether he can continue the search, according to a copy of the correspondence seen by Reuters.

Bitar’s previous efforts to interrogate top officials over the blasts that killed 220 people and tore apart parts of Beirut have been blocked by factions including the heavily armed Iran-backed Hezbollah.

The group has campaigned against Bitar as he seeks to question allies, and has also accused Washington of interfering in the investigation. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly called for Bitar to be replaced in 2021.

The investigation was paralyzed in early 2022 by the retirement of a judge from the court who had to decide some of the complaints against Bitar before it could proceed.

The court has been waiting for the appointment of a new judge to continue the work, the authorities have not taken any steps.

Bitar met a French judge who visited Beirut last week as part of a French investigation into the explosion, in which the victims included two French nationals. He couldn’t share documents with her while the investigation was frozen.

Bitar resumed work on the basis of a legal interpretation that challenged the reason for the delay, court sources said.

Charge the Diab before it doesn’t get stuck

Diab, an academic, became prime minister in January 2020 and resigned less than a week after the blast.

Bitar residents quickly sued him and several former officials for ignoring the chemicals, but the judge was removed in 2021 after political interference in the file.

WATCH | Ammonium nitrate has many uses, but it is dangerous if left unattended:

Diab said in a statement in 2020 that he believed his hands were clean and that he had handled the Beirut port explosion file transparently.

Bitar has scheduled interviews with 15 people in February, according to court sources.

But legal experts and even relatives of victims expect him to face continued pushback.

Nizar Saghieh of the watchdog NGO Legal Agenda said officials could try to deny Bitar’s re-legitimacy, while courts or security forces could refuse to take procedural steps to face charges.