Blast probe standoff a new crisis in Lebanon
CABINET SESSION ON JUDGE’S FUTURE POSTPONED AGAIN
Growing tension over a judicial probe into last year’s Beirut port blast threatens to push Lebanon into yet another political crisis, testing Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s new government as it struggles to dig the country out of economic collapse.
More than a year since the explosion ripped through Beirut, killing more than 200 people, Judge Tarek Bitar’s efforts to hold senior officials to account for suspected negligence are facing mounting political pushback, much of it driven by the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Ministers aligned with the politicians Bitar has sought to question had been expected to press their demand for his removal at a cabinet meeting yesterday, after the subject disrupted a stormy session on Tuesday. But the session was postponed until “a framework” could be agreed to tackle the issue, an official source said.
Inquiry suspended second time in less than 3 weeks
The inquiry was suspended on Tuesday for the second time in less than three weeks.
The warrant Bitar issued for Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior member of Amal and a Hezbollah ally, was the second to be issued for an ex-minister and was the main cause of Tuesday’s escalating tension.
Khalil said he deemed the warrant to be illegal and he would not heed it. He said Bitar was being influenced by politics and added: “The legal path that is being followed in this investigation is pushing the country towards civil strife.”
Senior officials from across the political spectrum have refused to show up for questioning and arrest warrants appeared unlikely to be enforced.
Political obstacles
A session of Lebanon’s supreme defence council, chaired by President Michel Aoun, on Tuesday refused the permission sought by Bitar to pursue Tony Saliba, director general of state security, an official source said.
The investigation was first suspended in late September on the basis of a complaint questioning Bitar’s impartiality. A court rejected the complaint on procedural grounds, allowing Bitar to resume the inquiry.
He is the second judge to lead the investigation. Fadi Sawan was removed from the case in February after a similar complaint filed by the politicians who are now challenging Bitar.
“For the first time, the judicial system wants to function, but it is suffering under political pressure and interventions,” said Paul Morcos, lawyer and professor of international law.
Khalil was one of the two politicians who brought legal complaints against Bitar, challenging his impartiality. The other politician was former public works minister Ghazi Zeiter, also a Hezbollah ally.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah voiced his harshest criticism yet of Bitar on Monday when he called in a televised address for his replacement, saying he was biased and politicised.