A probe into the catastrophic Beirut port explosion has been frozen for a second time after two politicians wanted for questioning filed a new complaint against the lead investigator, Judge Tarek Bitar.
Bitar sought to question powerful people in Lebanon on criminal negligence charges related to their role in the explosion. Various groups, however, have accused his probe of political bias and mounted a smear campaign against him.
Most recently, Bitar had issued an arrest warrant for one of the politicians who filed a complaint against him, former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil, a senior member of the Shi’ite Amal movement. The second politician was ex-public works minister Ghazi Zeiter, also a Hezbollah ally.
Read more here.
