Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Lebanon’s top prosecutor files charges against Beirut blast judge

Lebanon’s top prosecutor files charges against Beirut blast judge

Ghassan Oweidat also ordered the release of all suspects detained in connection with the deadly 2020 Beirut blast.


Lebanon’s top prosecutor has filed charges against the judge investigating the deadly blast at Beirut’s port in 2020 and ordered the release of all suspects detained in connection with the case, according to reports citing judicial sources.

The decision on Wednesday by Ghassan Oweidat reflected escalating opposition by Lebanon’s governing class to efforts by Judge Tarek Bitar to resume his probe into the devastating explosion that killed some 220 people, injured thousands and wrecked large parts of the Lebanese capital.

It was not immediately clear what charges Bitar faced. Reports said both the judge and the released detainees faced a travel ban.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said Oweidat had summoned Bitar to the Justice Palace in Beirut at 08:00 GMT on Thursday. The Supreme Judicial Council is also set to meet at 11:00 GMT in an effort to find a judge to replace Bitar, but it remained unclear whether there will be a quorum to set the process in motion, added Khodr.


The judicial spat began on Monday when Bitar unexpectedly resumed his inquiry after a 13-month suspension due to political resistance to his attempts to interrogate top officials.

Bitar also charged top current and former officials, including Oweidat, a judicial source was quoted as saying in reports, without specifying the charges against the top prosecutor.

The judge said on Wednesday he would continue his investigation despite mounting resistance. He told the Reuters news agency that he would “continue until I issue an indictment” and said that Oweidat “had no right” to file the charge or release detainees.

Lebanon caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the divisions in the judiciary body may have “dangerous consequences” if the concerned people themselves do not work to resolve this dilemma wisely, according a statement from Mikati’s office on Wednesday.




The probe into the August 4, 2020 explosion that damaged large areas of Beirut had been derailed since December 2021 by legal challenges, as well as resistance from factions.

Politicians who Bitar sought to question, including Hezbollah allies, made dozens of legal challenges disputing his right to interrogate them and saying he had overstepped his powers.

The blast on August 4, 2020, one of history’s largest non-nuclear explosions, was caused by hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been left unloaded at the port in 2013, but no senior official has been held to account.

Senior politicians whom Bitar sought to interrogate included members of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s Amal Movement, an important Hezbollah ally, along with Hassan Diab – prime minister at the time of the blast – and top security official Major-General Abbas Ibrahim.

All of them, including former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, have denied wrongdoing, and some have said that they have immunity from prosecution.

The interior ministry has also failed to execute arrest warrants issued by Bitar, further undermining his quest for accountability.

Aya Majzoub, deputy director for the Middle East at Amnesty International, likened the investigation into the port blast to “a battle for Lebanon’s future”.

“Are we going to have a kind of country where those individuals who are responsible for blowing up the country are held accountable? Or one where they are allowed to escape the accountability?” she told Al Jazeera.



Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Wave of Complaints Against Apple Over iPhone 17 Pro’s Scratch Sensitivity
Syria Holds First Elections Since Fall of Assad
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
×