Macron promises angry Beirut crowds aid won't go to 'corrupt hands'

Ellen Francis, Michel Rose


BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron promised angry Lebanese crowds in shattered Beirut that aid to rebuild the city would not go to “corrupt hands” and he urged the political authorities to carry out reforms or risk plunging Lebanon deeper into crisis.
French President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he arrives at the devastated site of the explosion at the port of Beirut, Lebanon August 6, 2020. Thibault Camus/Pool via REUTERS

Macron was speaking during the first visit by a foreign leader to the Lebanese capital since the biggest blast in its history tore through the city, killing at least 145 people, injured 5,000 and leaving swathe of the capital in tatters.

After visiting the port at the epicentre of the blast, Macron was greeted by crowds in nearby Gemmayze street, one of the most damaged in the city, shouting chants against the political establishment and endemic corruption.

“I guarantee you, this aid will not go to corrupt hands,” said Macron, who was wearing a black tie in mourning.

He promised to send more medical and other aid to Lebanon, while those around him chanted “Revolution” and “The people want the fall of the regime.”

“I will talk to all political forces to ask them for a new pact. I am here today to propose a new political pact to them,” he said, shaking hands on roads strewn with rubble and flanked by shops with windows blown out.

Residents, shop owners and volunteers have led clean-up efforts in the popular street of cafes and restaurants, where the blast ripped out balconies and smashed store facades.

Macron was applauded by the crowds in the neighbourhood, in a mainly Christian part of the capital, with chants of “Vive la France! Help us! You are our only hope!”.

Some also chanted against President Michel Aoun, who is a Maronite Christian under Lebanon’s political arrangement of dividing powerful positions between sects.

‘HOME TRUTHS’

Macron then headed to the Baabda presidential palace, where he was due to hold talks with Aoun, Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who is a Sunni Muslim, and Nabih Berri, the speaker of parliament who is a Shi’ite.

After that, he will meet other political groups and civil society at the French ambassador’s residence.

France has long sought to support its former colony and has sent emergency aid since the blast. But it has joined other Western nations in pressing for reforms to root out corruption, cut spiralling budget spending and reduce a mountain of debt.

Shortly after landing in Beirut, Macron said France’s solidarity with the Lebanese people was unconditional, but said he wanted to deliver some “home truths” to political figures.

“Beyond the blast, we know the crisis here is serious, it involves the historic responsibility of leaders in place,” Macron told reporters after being met at the airport by Aoun.

“We can’t do without telling each other some home truths,” he added.

“If reforms are not carried out, Lebanon will continue to sink,” he said, citing reforms to the energy sector, as Lebanon suffers acute power shortages, and public tenders, as well as measures to fight corruption.

Officials blamed the blast on a huge stockpile of a highly explosive material stored for years in unsafe conditions at Beirut port. The government ordered some port workers arrested.

Many Lebanese, who have lost jobs and watched savings evaporate in a financial crisis, say the blast was symptomatic of neglect and corruption in the political system.

Reporting by Michel Rose; additional reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, Editing by Timothy Heritage and Edmund Blair

The Beirut blast probe needs to go on – and the world can help

Iranian-backed elements trying to scuttle the Beirut blast probe must be held to account

RAGHIDA DERGHAM
Published: October 16th 2021


Demonstrators wave Lebanese flags during protests near the site of a blast at Beirut's port area. Reuters

It is welcome news that Iran wants to restore ties with Saudi Arabia, and that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are reaching out to Tehran to urge it to play a constructive role in ending the war in Yemen. The Saudi-Iranian talks in Iraq must also continue beyond the recent fourth round, with the aim being to begin a new chapter in Arab-Iran relations. One can only hope that these developments mark a serious and positive shift for the region.

However, the policy being pursued by the world’s major powers of separating the start-stop Vienna talks to strike a new nuclear deal with Iran from its destabilising activities in the Arab world will continue to have profound implications for the region. Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen are all run by weak governments, with Tehran-sponsored proxies wielding outsized influence in all three countries.

Last week’s parliamentary election in Iraq produced a surprising outcome, with Iran-backed political parties faring poorly – and, therefore, revealing the resentment ordinary Iraqis bear towards the neighbouring country’s influence in their affairs. The announcement of the results was followed by threats from Tehran’s allies to undo the results, thereby risking a security crisis in the country. It also proved that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in charge of Tehran’s overseas military activities – and which has been emboldened by the global powers’ decision to isolate the nuclear talks from Iran’s regional activities – does not have a stomach for genuine elections.

MORE FROM RAGHIDA DERGHAM
Why Russia is treading on tricky terrain in the Middle East

It is a similar story in Lebanon. Believing that it doesn't need to account for its destabilising activities there, Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, is working hard to undermine the judiciary’s remit to deliver justice, in cases in which the group is implicated. It is currently trying to derail the investigation into last year’s Beirut Port explosion that left more than 200 people dead and over 7,000 injured. It has even threatened to topple the newly installed federal government if the latter refuses to give in to its diktats. Such an outcome could lead to street battles in a country that continues to have strong memories of its 15-year civil war, even though it ended more than three decades ago.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement party, its ally in Parliament, are targeting Tarek Bitar, the judge probing the port blast by accusing him of politicising the investigation, simply because he has refused to tolerate their interference. Both parties have targeted other officials in similar fashion before, but this time, they are doing so feeling confident that no foreign power will do anything to intervene, beyond making denunciations.

It is increasingly evident that Hezbollah wants to shut down the probe into the August 2020 blast, which has a complicated backstory allegedly involving corrupt politicians, international shell companies and – most crucially – Hezbollah, which controlled the port at the time of the explosion.

Many questions over the explosion remain unanswered: was it an act of terror or simply an accident? Either way, how did it happen and who was responsible for it? The investigation has yet to arrive at any conclusions, because the judiciary has so far been hamstrung by Hezbollah’s politicking and, allegedly, due to a lack co-operation from other countries. Again, the question is why.

One theory is that illicit imports and exports were transiting through the Beirut Port to and from Syria and Iran. Could these products have included chemicals, spare parts, chips and electronics, or any sensitive material that Tehran would need for its nuclear and missile development programmes? Any evidence to back such claims would set not only the Vienna talks back but also the prospect of the US lifting its sanctions on Iran. Mr Bitar’s investigation, it seems, has been a source of great discomfort to Hezbollah and its patrons in Tehran.

What gives Hezbollah some of its clout, which it uses to try and push officials around, is its alliance with Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement party. Mr Aoun currently finds himself having to choose between yielding to Hezbollah's demands and listening to his own political base, which seems increasingly impatient with the slow pace of the investigation.

Michel Aoun is not a victim who lacks agency. He can act in Lebanon’s interest

Mr Aoun, however, is not a victim who lacks agency. He can act in Lebanon’s interest by upholding the principle of the separation of powers. He must show wisdom and courage based on a profound reading of the outcome of his party’s alliance with Hezbollah, which has allowed the latter to seize key levers of the Lebanese state, put the presidency in an awkward spot, and threaten to pull down the government.

The president can take positive action by permitting Mr Bitar to question Maj Gen Tony Saliba, the head of state security. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, meanwhile, can ask the interior ministry to allow Mr Bitar to question Maj Gen Abbas Ibrahim, the head of general security. By doing so, both the president and prime minister can prove they are protectors of the judiciary and can, thereby, set a positive example for other leaders.

The current crisis in Lebanon is one involving the purportedly independent judiciary on the one side and the political class that considers itself above the law on the other. Internal matter or not, however, the international community must throw its support behind the judiciary. For, this branch of the government is in grave danger and its officials need international backing and protection. The US and the European powers, led by France, can move to deploy sanctions against those mutinying against the judiciary, as the Lebanese security services fail to act fearing political recriminations.

Failing to do so will give Hezbollah – with support from Tehran – and Amal the space to do what they can to foil the investigation. The fate of the court case could prove consequential for Lebanese politics and the stakes Hezbollah, and by extension Iran, will continue to have in it.

Raghida Dergham  is the founder and executive chairwoman of

the Beirut Institute and a columnist for The National (UAE)

LEBANESE CHRISTIANS REMEMBER PORT BLAST

Lebanon elite united against probe seen as survival threat

Issued on: 19/10/2021 - 

Lebanese bury their dead after the official inquiry into last year's Beirut port explosion sparked bloodshed on the streets of the capital

 IBRAHIM AMRO AFP/File

Beirut (AFP)

They may often squabble but Lebanon's political parties seem united in rejecting an investigation into Beirut's massive port explosion that they fear could threaten their survival, analysts say.

The explosion of a huge stockpile of poorly stored fertiliser on the dockside on August 4, 2020 killed more than 210 people, wounded thousands and ravaged half the capital.

In the aftermath of mass protests in late 2019 demanding the ouster of the traditional ruling class, many said the disaster was just the latest example of official incompetence and corruption.

But months into a domestic investigation, no one has been held accountable.

Politicians have repeatedly obstructed the work of judge Tarek Bitar by refusing to show up for questioning, filing legal complaints against him or calling for his dismissal, which last week sparked deadly violence in the heart of Beirut.

Analyst Lina Khatib said hopes were fading of holding those responsible for the port blast accountable.

"The ruling class in Lebanon is in agreement about wanting the port probe to be abandoned and they will use all available means to derail it," said Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the Chatham House think tank.

The country's powerful Shiite movement Hezbollah has spearheaded a campaign to remove Bitar, accusing him of political bias.

The debate over his future, which comes after the previous investigator was removed in February, has already triggered the postponement of one cabinet meeting despite the urgency of addressing Lebanon's acute economic crisis.

- 'Battle for the rule of law' -

Nadim Houry, executive director at the Arab Reform Initiative, said that the whole ruling class felt under threat in what he described as "an essential battle in Lebanon for rule of law".

Last week's bloodshed and the funerals of those killed brought armed militiamen onto the streets of Beirut in scenes reminiscent of Lebanon's 1975 to 1990 civil war

 IBRAHIM AMRO AFP/File

"A section of society has decided that they want to go all the way and ask for truth," but they face "a political class that is willing to use threats, use violence, use even launching into another civil war to prevent that quest for truth from leading to a result," he said.

It emerged after the port blast that officials had known that hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate had for years been left to linger in a warehouse near residential neighbourhoods.

Families of the victims see in Bitar the only hope for justice in a country where impunity has long been the norm.

After the 1975 to 1990 civil war, Lebanon issued a broad amnesty that benefited the country's warlords, allowing many of them to become political leaders.

"Regardless of what Bitar finds, it's the idea itself that any of them can somehow be held accountable that they are resisting," Houry said.

Any success in the blast probe would set a precedent and unravel a "impunity regime" under which each party agrees not to pursue the other for its crimes, as long as it is not targeted itself.

Tensions came to a boil last week after a rally against Bitar organised by Hezbollah and its Shiite ally Amal descended into violence that killed seven of their supporters.

- 'Price too high' -

The sound of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades trapped residents indoors for hours, reviving memories of the civil war.

The inquiry's chief, judge Tarek Bitar, has become a bugbear not just for the Shiite parties pushing for his replacement but for the whole political elite, analysts say - AFP/File

Hezbollah accused snipers of the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party, of causing the bloodshed, but the latter has denied this.

The army, meanwhile, is investigating a video circulated on social media that appears to show a soldier shooting at protesters.

"Hezbollah is increasingly acting as the praetorian guard of the regime that has come into place since the 1990s," Houry said.

The Iran-backed movement, the only one not to have disarmed after the civil war, is at least partly blacklisted by most Western governments but holds seats in parliament.

While political parties have publicly supported an investigation, analysts say they ultimately wish to protect their own interests.

"Lebanon's ruling class may be political opponents but they are united in profiteering from the system... and they therefore oppose any steps to reform it or to instil accountability within it," Khatib said.

A spokesman for the families of blast victims quit on Saturday, after many feared he had been intimidated into toeing the Hezbollah line and calling for Bitar to step down.

Ibrahim Hoteit, who lost his brother in the explosion, lives in a Shiite-majority neighbourhood.

The following day, many refrained from taking part in a protest to mark the second anniversary of the now-defunct 2019 protest movement, fearing further violence.

"Ultimately, the ruling class want to push the Lebanese to conclude that the price of accountability is too high," Khatib said.

© 2021 AFP

Social unrest threatens Mideast economic recovery: IMF

Issued on: 19/10/2021

A protester holds a flag during clashes with armed forces in Lebanon, whose economy is in a tailspin PATRICK BAZ AFP/File

Dubai (AFP)

The Middle East and North Africa is on track for a recovery, but rising social unrest is threatening the "fragile" progress of low-income economies, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.

The MENA region, which includes Arab countries and Iran, saw real GDP growth shrink by 3.2 percent in 2020 due to weak oil prices and sweeping lockdowns to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

But with rapid vaccination campaigns, especially in oil-rich Gulf nations, the IMF predicted GDP growth would rise to 4.1 percent this year, up 0.1 of a percentage point from its last projection in April.

"The region is going through recovery in 2021. Since the beginning of the year, we see progress in the economic performance," said Jihad Azour, director for the Middle East and Central Asia at the IMF.

But "this recovery is not the same in all countries. It is uncertain and uneven because of the divergence in vaccination... and geopolitical developments", he told AFP.

The IMF said in a report that while the prospects for oil-exporting economies improved with higher oil prices, low-income and crisis-hit countries were witnessing "fragile" recoveries.

It warned of "a rise in social unrest" in 2021 that "could pick up further due to repeated infection waves, dire economic conditions, high unemployment and food prices".

Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Sudan other countries have been witnessing protests in recent months by thousands of angry citizens demanding better jobs and services.

Unemployment increased in MENA last year by 1.4 percent to reach 11.6 percent, a rise exceeding that seen during the global financial crisis and the 2014-15 oil price shock, the IMF said.

- Increasing inequities -

The IMF warned of the longer-term risk of an uneven recovery, which could lead to a "permanent widening of existing wealth, income, and social gaps and, ultimately, weaker growth and less inclusive societies".

About seven million more people in the region are estimated to have entered extreme poverty during 2020-21 compared with pre-crisis projections, according to the IMF.

Meanwhile, inflation in the region is projected to increase to 12.9 percent in 2021 from 10.4 last year, with higher food and energy prices in some countries, before subsiding to 8.8 percent in 2022.

"Inequities are increasing. The low-skilled, the young, women, and migrant workers have been affected the most by the pandemic, as have smaller firms, particularly those in contact-sensitive sectors," said the report.

According to the international lender, the corporate sector has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, but smaller firms and those in "contact-sensitive sectors" are lagging behind.

"Fifteen to 25 percent of firms may need to be restructured or liquidated," it added.

In Lebanon, the continuing drop in the value of the currency has dashed hopes that the government formed last month can stem an economic crisis that the World Bank brands as one of the worst since the mid-19th century.

Nearly 80 percent of Lebanon's population lives below the poverty line.

"The Fund has already started technical discussions with the authorities... to develop what would be in fact that the framework within which the fund can help Lebanon," said Azour, a former Lebanese finance minister.

© 2021 AFP

UPDATE
Beirut port blast crater 43 metres deep: security official


Issued on: 09/08/2020 

An aerial view of parts of the devastated Beirut port taken on August 7 shows the crater caused by the colossal explosion three days earlier of a huge pile of ammonium nitrate that had languished for years in a port warehouse - AFP

Beirut (AFP)

The huge chemical explosion that hit Beirut's port, devastating large parts of the Lebanese capital and claiming over 150 lives, left a 43-metre (141 foot) deep crater, a security official said Sunday.

The blast Tuesday, which was felt across the county and as far as the island of Cyprus, was recorded by the sensors of the American Institute of Geophysics (USGS) as having the power of a magnitude 3.3 earthquake.It was triggered by a fire in a port warehouse, where a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate, a chemical that can be used as a fertiliser or as an explosive, had languished for years, according to authorities.

The huge blast also wounded at least 6,000 people and displaced more than 300,000 from their destroyed or damaged homes.

The revelation that the chemicals had languished for years like a ticking time-bomb in the heart of the capital has served as shocking proof to many Lebanese of the rot at the core of the state apparatus.

Demonstrators on Sunday called for renewed anti-government rallies after a night of angry protests saw them storm several ministries before they were expelled by the army.

It was a new tactic for a protest movement that emerged last October to demand the removal of a political class long accused of being inept and corrupt.

"The explosion in the port left a crater 43 meters deep," the Lebanese security official told AFP, citing assessments by French experts working in the disaster area.

The crater is much larger than the one left by the enormous blast in 2005 that killed former prime minister Rafic Hariri, which measured 10 metres across and two metres deep, according to an international tribunal investigating his murder.

French rescue and police teams are among a much larger group of international emergency response specialists that has flooded into Lebanon to ease pressure on local authorities unable to cope with the disaster relief on their own.

Qatari, Russian and German rescuers are also working at the port blast site.

BACKGROUNDER
The strange history of the chemical cargo that caused the Beirut blast

Issued on: 07/08/2020 -

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard in front of destroyed ships at the scene where an explosion hit on Tuesday the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2020. © Hussein Malla, AP

Text by:Sébastian SEIBT

Thousands of tonnes of ammonium nitrate, believed to be responsible for the devastating explosion in Beirut on Tuesday, have been traced back by journalists to a Moldovan-flagged boat that was supposed to deliver the chemicals to Mozambique. An impecunious crew living as “hostages on a floating bomb” and repeated requests to the Lebanese authorities to shift the cargo, which went unheeded, are part of the cargo ship’s devastating story.

The story that led to the tragic explosion in Beirut port on Tuesday began more than six years ago, 1,300 kilometres from the Lebanese capital. The Moldovan-flagged vessel Rhosus left the port of Batumi, Georgia, with 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate on board. It never reached its intended destination, Mozambique, where the cargo was supposed to be sold to a factory manufacturing explosives for civilian use.

Thus, the ammonium nitrate – which is now seen as the cause of the disaster that killed at least 154 people and injured at least 5,000 – should never have ended up at Beirut port. But a combination of mismanagement of the ship, technical problems and legal complications kept the cargo there.

The Lebanese authorities have not yet released the conclusions of the official investigation into the tragedy. However, several publications – including The New York Times, CNN and Der Spiegel – were able to piece together a chronology of the facts.

‘Do you expect Putin to send special forces?’

The Rhosus belonged to Igor Grechushkin, a Russian businessman living in Cyprus who had been paid a million dollars to transport ammonium nitrate to Mozambique, the ship’s captain Boris Prokoshev told The New York Times.

During a stopover in Greece, the boat’s Russian owner warned the crew that he lacked the funds to pay for salaries and maintenance costs on a journey through the Suez Canal. So he asked them to make their way to Beirut, where he intended to receive more money to transport extra cargo, Der Spiegel reported.

It was a difficult crossing through the eastern Mediterranean, explained Prokoshev, who is now retired. The ship was in a bad condition, he said, with a hole in the hull forcing the crew to regularly throw water out.

Contrary to its owner’s plans, the ship stayed in Beirut. During an inspection of the Rhosus, the Lebanese port authority said that its papers were not in order and that the boat was not in a good enough condition to sail, CNN noted. Meanwhile Igor Grechushkin dropped off the radar. The crew lacked the resources to pay for shipping costs.

Without the means to maintain the boat or even buy food, the crew were “hostages on a floating bomb”, to quote a prescient headline on maritime news website Fleetmon in July 2014.

Lebanon allowed six people to leave the country, keeping just four people in place, including the captain. Prokoshev said he contacted the Russian embassy. “Do you expect President Putin to send special forces to get you out?” one of his interlocutors reportedly said.

‘The judiciary never acted’

In desperation, Prokoshev sold some of the ship’s fuel to provide lawyers to argue his case, he told radio station Echo Moscow on Wednesday. Eleven months after arriving in Beirut, the sailors finally won the legal right to go home, Charbel Dagher, one of the lawyers representing the crew, told specialist website ShipArrested in 2015.

The 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were then transferred to warehouse 12 in the port of Beirut. They never moved from there. Port officials say they repeatedly alerted the Lebanese authorities to the danger of keeping a stock of highly explosive products in a single hangar so close to the centre of Beirut.

Between 2014 and 2017, six unsuccessful applications were made to the Lebanese courts, asking for permission to dispose of the ammonium nitrate, The New York Times reported. “In view of the serious danger of keeping these goods in the hangar in unsuitable climatic conditions, we reaffirm our request to please request the marine agency to re-export these goods immediately to preserve the safety of the port and those working in it, or to look into agreeing to sell this amount,” read one such letter, obtained by Al-Jazeera. There was no response.

The port authorities say they proposed the cargo be offered to the Lebanese army or that it be sold to an explosive manufacturer. But to no avail. “We were told the cargo would be sold in an auction,” Hassan Koraytem, the general manager of Beirut’s port, told The New York Times. “But the auction never happened and the judiciary never acted.”

Six months ago, a team of inspectors sounded the alarm once again that there was enough ammonium nitrate to cause a massive explosion in Beirut, according to an anonymous source cited by Reuters.

Lebanese authorities announced their own inquiry into Tuesday's explosion and a military prosecutor on Thursday said 16 people had been detained, including Koraytem, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse.

As for the ship, the Rhosus, Prokoshev learned that it sank in 2015 or 2016 in the port of Beirut. But unlike the ammonium nitrate, it went quietly – without causing one of the worst non-nuclear explosions in history.

This article was translated from the original in French.

Lebanese judge goes after top officials over port blast

BEIRUT (AP) — The Lebanese judge leading the investigation into last year’s massive explosion at Beirut’s port announced Friday he intends to pursue senior politicians and former and current security chiefs in the case, and requested permission for their prosecution, state media reported.

© Provided by The Canadian Press

The move — two days before the 11-month anniversary of the horrific blast — was praised by families of the victims and survivors as a bold step by Bitar, whose predecessor was removed following legal challenges by two former ministers he had accused of negligence that led to the explosion.

Judge Tarek Bitar confirmed charges filed by his predecessor against outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab and summoned him for questioning, National News Agency reported. He did not set a date.

Bitar also asked the government and the interior ministry for permission to question two of Lebanon’s most prominent security chiefs — the head of General Security Directorate, Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, and the head of State Security, Maj. Gen. Tony Saliba.

Separately, he asked parliament to lift immunity for two legislators who were charged by his predecessor, and a former interior minister. Bitar also filed charges against former army commander Gen. Jean Kahwaji and former head of military intelligence Brig. Gen. Kameel Daher, as well as two other retired intelligence generals, and said he will also be pursuing judges.

Nearly 3,000 tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers that had been improperly stored in the port for years, exploded on Aug. 4, killing 211 people, injuring more than 6,000 and devastating nearby neighborhoods.

The blast was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded and was the most destructive single incident in Lebanon's troubled history.

William Noon, whose brother, Joe, a firefighter, was killed while extinguishing the massive fire that led to the port blast, said Bitar was starting to deliver on his promises.

“Today I felt that there is hope and that we are going somewhere,” he told The Associated Press, adding that the charges filed by Bitar were similar to those of his predecessor, an indication that those persons were apparently to blame.

Noon, however, said he expected interference from politicians, adding that the families plan to take to the streets if Bitar is not allowed to carry on with his work.

“Judge Tarek Bitar has taken a very courageous decision,” wrote Lebanese lawyer and activist Nizar Saghieh on Twitter. “He is opening again the battle of (lifting) immunities against influential people.”

It was not immediately clear if Diab would accept to be questioned by Bitar, after declining to be interrogated by the former prosecutor, Fadi Sawwan, last December. In an interview with the AP late last year, Diab, who had resigned following the explosion, said he was being singled out and charged while others knew more, calling it “diabolical.”

He formally asked parliament to lift immunity of three lawmakers: former Finance Minster Ali Hassan Khalil, former Minister of Public Works Ghazi Zeiter and former Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk. He also asked the bar association for permission to question former Public Works Minister Youssef Fenianos.

NNA said they will be questioned over possible intentional crimes of killing and negligence. Families of the victims and survivors of the blast have accused the ruling political class of corruption and negligence that led to the explosion of ammonium nitrates,

Khalil and Zeiter are members of the bloc of Lebanon’s powerful Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, and along with Fenianos are strong allies of the group Hezbollah.

Khalil and Zeiter issued a joint statement later Friday saying they heard about the request by the judge through the media, adding that they are both ready for questioning. They said they are willing to be questioned — even before permission is issued by parliament and their immunity lifted — in order “to help in reaching the truth and specify responsibilities regarding this crime.”

Bitar was named to lead the investigation in February after Sawwan was removed following legal challenges by senior officials he had accused of negligence that led to the blast.

In mid-April, Bitar ordered the release of six people, including security officers, who had been detained for months. Among those released was an officer who had written a detailed warning to top officials prior to the explosion about the dangers of the material stored at the port.

Bassem Mroue, The Associated Press

UPDATE

Here’s why the massive explosion in Beirut will deepen Lebanon’s financial nightmare

Published: Aug. 5, 2020 By Pierre Briançon

Buildings lie ruined near Beirut's port, devastated by an explosion on August 4, 2020. GETTY IMAGES

The destruction of the port of Beirut by a massive explosion on Tuesday will throw Lebanon deeper into the protracted financial crisis it has faced in recent months, which forced the country to default on a $1.2 billion eurobond in March.

At least 100 people died in the blast, and 4,000 others were injured after thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate stored by the government in a warehouse ignited. The explosion destroyed the port area of the Lebanese city, a vital trade hub for the small country’s struggling economy.

The government of Prime Minister Hassan Diab has been talking for months with the International Monetary Fund about a multibillion-dollar rescue package. The Lebanese pound has lost 80% of its value on the black market since October and the nearly-bankrupt banking system is only allowing limited cash withdrawals by depositors.

The IMF said it wouldn’t seriously consider a bailout until the country’s warring political movements unite behind a government turnaround plan and get serious about fighting corruption. But IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva warned in June that there was “no reason to say there is a breakthrough” in the talks.

The IMF is also asking Lebanese authorities to credibly assess the massive losses (more than $80 billon by some estimates) suffered by the country’s financial system as commercial banks lent massively to the central bank to allow it to finance the government’s expenses. Lebanon’s deficit topped 12% of gross domestic product last year, the public debt-to-GDP ratio stood at around 150%, and the current-account deficit amounted to about 25% of GDP.

Lebanon’s economy will sink deeper, adding to the effects of both its financial problems and the coronavirus impact. But the Hezbollah-backed government of the country once known as “the Switzerland of the Middle East” may encounter little capital of sympathy when it turns to western creditors for a financial lifeline that would go much beyond the humanitarian aid already pledged by several western countries.

Read:Beirut explosion: Cache of ammonium nitrate blamed for blast

Aerial footage shows the full scale of Beirut's devastating explosion, which killed 100 and reduced buildings into rubble
Bill Bostock

An aerial image broadcast by Sky News showing the port in Beirut after the explosion on Tuesday. Sky News

Aerial footage broadcast by Sky News show the full scale of the explosion that rocked Beirut on Tuesday.

The latest reports suggests that thousands were injured and at least 100 were killed.
The government said the blast was caused by a stockpile of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been kept at the port for years.

Numerous hospitals were damaged in the explosion, meaning they could not treat many of those injured who needed medical care.

The blast comes as Lebanon struggles under the weight of an economic crisis made many times worse by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Scroll down to see the full fly-over video of the scene.
—SkyNews (@SkyNews) August 5, 2020

Read more:
'I have never seen a tragedy so huge': 2 people in Beirut describe being caught up in the massive explosion that devastated the city

Lebanon's devastating blast came in the middle of an unprecedented economic crisis, 

frequent power outages, and hospitals struggling to contain the coronavirus

What the unbelievable destruction looks like for people on the ground

Hospitals in Beirut were so badly damaged by the explosion that many can't admit patients

 

Lebanese rally near presidential palace to demand justice over port blast

Issued on: 12/09/2020 - 20:24Modified: 12/09/2020 - 20:23An anti-government protest movement that erupted in Lebanon in October last year has been revived since the blast, which rekindled smouldering rage against official neglect and a political class accused of corruption ANWAR AMRO AFP

Beirut (AFP)

Hundreds of Lebanese marched Saturday on the presidential palace to denounce a lack of progress in a probe by authorities into a monster blast that ravaged swathes of the capital 40 days ago.

Some marchers carried black versions of the Lebanese flag in a sign of mourning for the more than 190 people who were killed in the August 4 explosion at the Beirut port, and others demanded the president resign.

Twenty-five suspects are in custody over the tragedy that occurred when hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had been left unattended in a port warehouse exploded.


The blast, which wounded thousands and destroyed homes and businesses across large parts of Beirut, was one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions ever.

The government resigned in the wake of the disaster, but Lebanon has rejected an international investigation, saying it would carry out its own probe aided by foreign experts.

Saturday's march set off from the justice palace in Beirut to the hillside presidential palace, where there were also hundreds of supporters of President Michel Aoun and heavy army deployment.

Troops fired warning shots into the air as brawls between rival demonstrators broke out, AFP correspondents said.

"It is not possible that no one has been put on trial after an explosion like the one that happened on August 4," anti-government protester Layal Tohme said.

"The country is collapsing," she added.

Darine Hourani, a supporter of Aoun, said the president "cannot be held to account each time something wrong takes place" in the country.

"He is the president and we must respect him," Hourani added.

But Carla Moukahal, a critic of Aoun, said the president must step down.

"I came here to bring down this corrupt political system. We want to oust Michel Aoun. Enough is enough," said the 19-year-old.

The army said in a tweet that it had formed a cordon to separate the rival protests and that soldiers "fired into the air after some demonstrators pelted soldiers with stones and beat them with sticks".

A protest movement that erupted in October last year has been revived since the blast, which rekindled smouldering rage against official neglect and a political class accused of corruption.

The explosion, Lebanon's worst peace-time disaster, was followed by a fire on Thursday at the Beirut port, and came as Lebanese were already reeling from the country's worst economic crisis in decades.

Among those arrested by authorities as part of the investigation into the blast are top port and customs officials, as well as Syrian workers who allegedly carried out welding work at the port hours before the explosion.

No high-ranking political official has been arrested as part of the probe.

© 2020 AFP

UPDATE

Beirut port officials arrested over deadly blasts as Lebanese vent anger at ruler

Issued on: 05/08/2020 - 17:33

A member of security forces walks past the damage near the site of Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 5, 2020. REUTERS/Aziz Taher REUTERS - AZIZ TAHER

Text by:FRANCE 24

Lebanon's government announced a two-week state of emergency on Wednesday, a day after twin blasts in the capital's port killed at least 135 people and injured more than 5,000, leaving scores more missing. Follow the day's events as they happened on our liveblog.

Two massive explosions at Beirut's port sent shock waves across the Lebanese capital on Tuesday, flattening buildings and leaving up to 250,000 people homeless

Lebanese officials say the likely cause was the detonation of more than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate stored for years in a warehouse

An unspecified number of Beirut port officials have been placed under house arrest pending an investigation into the explosions

World leaders have pledged support, with France sending rescuers, medical equipment and a mobile clinic ahead of a visit by President Emmanuel Macron

The UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 Beirut bombing that killed former Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri has delayed its verdict until Aug.18

Lebanon was already on the brink of collapse amid a severe economic crisis that has ignited mass protests in recent month

At least 135 dead after Beirut explosions; 300,000 homeless

A destroyed silo is seen Wednesday amid the rubble and debris aftermath of a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo by Ahmad Terro/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Authorities in Beirut have increased the death count from the devastating explosions on Tuesday to at least 135, while one official said Wednesday it could cost Lebanon's capital as much as $5 billion to recover.


Lebanese President Michel Aoun called for an emergency Cabinet meeting and asked for a two-week state of emergency.

Beirut Gov. Marwan Abboud said about 300,000 were homeless after the blasts and estimated repair costs in the billions. Lebanese Red Cross workers searched abandoned neighborhoods on Wednesday, reporting more than 5,000 injured.

Abboud told local media that damages could range from $3 billion to $5 billion, or "maybe more." The death toll was in the dozens on Tuesday and had risen to triple digits on Wednesday, the Red Cross said.

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Officials said they expect the toll to rise as they dig through the debris.

Authorities believe an initial explosion occurred at a warehouse near Beirut's port and ignited a fire, followed by multiple smaller explosions and, finally, a massive blast that caused the most damage. They said stored ammonium nitrate in the area was the likely source.

Seismologists said the biggest explosion was equivalent to a 3.3-magnitude earthquake.

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Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, declaring Wednesday a national day of mourning, has vowed to investigate the explosions and said anyone who may have facilitated them will be held accountable.

Diab said it has long been known that storing ammonium nitrate at the location was a hazard.

The accident could not have come at a worse time for Lebanon, which has been fighting to overcome a major economic crisis because of the devaluation of its currency. Officials said silos that held about 85% of Lebanon's grain were destroyed in the blasts.

Raoul Nehme, Lebanon's economy minister, said seven employees at the port's granaries are missing and that Lebanon now has less than a month's worth of grain reserves.

At least two Instagram accounts were established for those looking for loved ones in Beirut. One of the accounts also is posting lists of people admitted to various hospitals in the city, to help people find family members.

The World Health Organization said it's sending 23 tons of aid from its warehouse in Dubai, including medical trauma kits carrying syringes, bandages and gauze.

Germany has sent a team that includes dozens of search and rescue experts to aid with finding survivors and victims. France, Qatar, Iraq and Kuwait are said they are also sending supplies.

Multiple Lebanese officials ‘criminally negligent’ for Beirut blast: Human Rights Watch
By Staff Reuters
Posted August 3, 2021 7:33 am

WATCH: Beirut explosion: Drone footage shows port and its surroundings 1 year after deadly blast.


A report released by Human Rights Watch on Tuesday concluded there was strong evidence to suggest some Lebanese officials knew about and tacitly accepted the lethal risks posed by ammonium nitrate stored at Beirut port before the fatal blast there on Aug. 4 last year.


HRW called for a U.N. investigation into the explosion, which was caused by the chemicals stored unsafely at the port for years and killed more than 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed swathes of Lebanon’s capital.

The report by the international rights watchdog contained over 700 pages of findings and documents. Its investigation also concluded there was evidence that multiple Lebanese authorities were criminally negligent under Lebanese law.

Some Lebanese officials knew about 2020 Beirut blast risks, took no action: Human Rights WatchSome Lebanese officials knew about 2020 Beirut blast risks, took no action: Human Rights Watch – Aug 3, 2021

HRW said President Michel Aoun, caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab, director general of state security Tony Saliba and other former ministers wanted for questioning by judge Bitar, had failed to take action to protect the general public despite having been informed of the risks.

Reuters sought comment on the report’s findings from Aoun, Diab and Saliba.

The presidential palace offered no comment. Saliba said his agency did all it could within its legal remit, filing legal reports to warn officials, and had an office open at the port only months before the blast. There was no immediate response from Diab.

READ MORE: Lebanon’s prime minister among those charged with negligence in Beirut explosion

Aoun said on Friday he was ready to testify and that no one was above the law. HRW based its report on official documents it reviewed and on multiple interviews with top officials including the president, the caretaker prime minister and the head of the country’s state security.

The investigation trailed events from 2014 onwards after the shipment was brought to Beirut port and tracked repeated warnings of danger to various official bodies.

“Evidence strongly suggests that some government officials foresaw the death that the ammonium nitrate’s presence in the port could result in and tacitly accepted the risk of the deaths occurring,” the report said.

0:45 Beirut explosion: Signs of life detected at building destroyed by blast – Sep 3, 2020

It called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to mandate an investigation into the blast and on foreign governments to impose human rights and corruption sanctions on officials.

A Lebanese investigation into the blast, led by Judge Tarek Bitar, has stalled. Politicians and senior security officials are yet to be questioned and requests to lift their immunity have been hindered.

A document seen by Reuters that was sent just over two weeks before the blast showed the president and prime minister were warned about the security risk posed by the chemicals stored at the port and that they could destroy the capital.

(Writing By Maha El Dahan, Editing by Timothy Heritage)