Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Friday, Sep 12, 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
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
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
Australia to Recognize the State of Palestine at UN Assembly
The Collapse of the Programmer Dream: AI Experts Now the Real High-Earners
Armenia and Azerbaijan to Sign US-Brokered Framework Agreement for Nakhchivan Corridor
British Labour Government Utilizes Counter-Terrorism Tools for Social Media Monitoring Against Legitimate Critics
WhatsApp Deletes 6.8 Million Scam Accounts Amid Rising Global Fraud
Nine people have been hospitalized and dozens of salmonella cases have been reported after an outbreak of infections linked to certain brands of pistachios and pistachio-containing products, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada
Texas Residents Face Water Restrictions While AI Data Centers Consume Millions of Gallons
Tariffs, AI, and the Shifting U.S. Macro Landscape: Navigating a New Economic Regime
India Rejects U.S. Tariff Threat, Defends Russian Oil Purchases
United States Establishes Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and Digital Asset Stockpile
Thousands of Private ChatGPT Conversations Accidentally Indexed by Google
China Tightens Mineral Controls, Curtailing Critical Inputs for Western Defence Contractors
OpenAI’s Bold Bet: Teaching AI to Think, Not Just Chat
BP’s Largest Oil and Gas Find in 25 Years Uncovered Offshore Brazil
JPMorgan and Coinbase Unveil Partnership to Let Chase Cardholders Buy Crypto Directly
×