Beirut blast judge issues arrest warrant for ex-minister

A monument demanding justice stands before grain silos that were gutted in the, August 2020, Beirut port explosion. (AP Photo)
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Updated 16 September 2021
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Beirut blast judge issues arrest warrant for ex-minister

  • Judge Tarek Bitar issued an arrest warrant for the former public works and transportation minister Youssef Fenianos, after Fenianos failed to appear for questioning
  • Bitar has also demanded that parliament lift the immunity of three MPs — Nohad Machnouk, Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil — in addition to a number of security officials he is keen to question

BEIRUT: The judge leading the investigation into the August 2020 Beirut Port blast issued an arrest warrant on Thursday for the former public works and transportation minister Youssef Fenianos, after Fenianos failed to appear for questioning.

Judge Tarek Bitar has also subpoenaed former Prime Minister Hassan Diab, who was the premier at the time of the port blast, and has demanded that parliament lift the immunity of three MPs — Nohad Machnouk, Ghazi Zeaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil — in addition to a number of security officials he is keen to question.

Diab stepped down as caretaker prime minister and left the country when Prime Minister Najib Mikati took office earlier this month. Social media was abuzz with the news of Diab’s departure, with many speculating that he would not return for his scheduled questioning on September 20. Diab reportedly travelled to the US to visit his children, whom he had not seen for two years, before receiving Bitar’s subpoena, which was issued on August 26.

A judicial source said that the discriminatory Attorney General, Judge Ghassan al-Khoury — the judicial public prosecutor in the investigation, referred the subpoena against Diab to the General Directorate of the Internal Security Forces for implementation.

Bitar issued another subpoena against Diab on Sept. 14, this time including the address of his residence in Beirut. If Diab fails to return before Monday morning, then the judge would have the right to issue a warrant for his arrest.

In response to the arrest warrant for Fenianos, who is affiliated with the Marada movement but is not currently an MP and therefore does not have immunity, the head of the Marada movement, Suleiman Frangieh, tweeted: “We reiterate that we stand by Fenianos, who has the right to defend himself.”

Bitar is facing pressure from all sides of the political spectrum. Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah accused the judge of “playing a political game.” Bitar’s predecessor in the case, Judge Fadi Sawan, was relieved of his duties as a result of political pressure when two of the former ministers he had charged with negligence for the disaster had their request for his removal from his post granted by a court.

Many see the subpoena against Diab as a measure of how seriously the new government is taking the investigation. If Diab is allowed to continue to evade questioning from Bitar, and if the newly formed government’s parliament refuses to lift ex-ministers’ immunity, then there seems little hope of justice for the victims of the blast and their families.

Those families took to the streets again on Thursday to apply more pressure on the political establishment to stop what they perceive as its interference in the judiciary’s investigation. They blocked the road in front of the Palace of Justice in Beirut and stressed the need to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Mothers of some of the victims carried their children’s pictures and banners that referenced Mikati’s emotional speech when he discussed how people were suffering in Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis. “If your eyes watered when you thought about the mothers who were suffering, then stand with us, the mothers of the victims. Help Judge Bitar bring us justice,” the banners read.

Others held banners with blunter statements, including: “We want our rights and we will not let our children’s blood go to waste.”

William Noun, whose brother Joe was one of the 215 people killed by the explosion, which left thousands injured and several residential neighborhoods completely destroyed, told Arab News: “Diab left the country because he is running away from justice. He knows which party blew up the ammonium nitrate. The same party that prevented him from going to the port (when he got word of the ammonium nitrate stored there) before the explosion facilitated his departure.”

The families of the victims said in a joint statement: “The Public Prosecution, which is supposed to be on our side, is taking suspicious actions; it released suspects without having the powers to do so and began leaking information about the investigation.

“Stop confronting us with politics. We do not understand your policies. What we do understand is that you killed us. The Beirut Port blast was on purpose. Someone is responsible and they should be held accountable,” the statement continued.

Local media was so preoccupied with the arrest warrant for Fenianos, that news of Syrian vehicles loaded with Iranian diesel entering Lebanese territory went almost unnoticed.

The convoy — estimated to consist of around 80 tankers — entered through illegal Hezbollah crossings on the outskirts of Hermel. Hezbollah followers reportedly gathered on the road to Baalbek to greet it, and the cargo was emptied into tanks belonging to Al-Amana Fuel Co., which is currently subject to US sanctions.


Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations

Updated 3 sec ago
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Saudi companies exhibiting at ArabPlast in Dubai to showcase petrochemical innovations

  • ArabPlast will feature a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics and petrochemicals in the region

LONDON: Saudi petrochemical firms will showcase their products and innovative solutions at the 17th ArabPlast, hosted by the Dubai World Trade Center, the Emirates News Agency — WAM —reported. 

ArabPlast, an international trade show that takes place from Jan. 7-9, is an important event in the calendar of companies working in the plastics, recycling, petrochemicals, packaging and rubber industries.  

In 2025, ArabPlast will host 12 national pavilions and 750 exhibitors from a total of 35 countries, including companies from Saudi Arabia, Austria, China, Egypt, Germany, Italy, India, Switzerland, Jordan, UAE and the rest of the GCC countries.  

They will showcase “a diverse range of products, technologies and solutions that shape the future of plastics, petrochemicals and rubber sectors in the region,” WAM reported. 

Nidal Mohammed Kadar, director of ArabPlast, said that the event would also feature the “latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence technologies in the field of recycling,” which will contribute to sustainability. 

Sadiq Al-Lawati, executive director of Polymers Marketing at OQ Oman, said that ArabPlast will focus on “sustainable, environmentally friendly solutions” as the global demand for plastic increases in industrial sectors, such as construction, food and beverage, aviation, automotive, health care and sports. 

Alongside the exhibitions, hundreds of professionals and decision-makers will discuss the latest solutions and challenges that the plastic and petrochemical industries are facing in the Arab region.  


Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted an area in Beirut’s southern suburbs on November 24, 2024. (AFP)
Updated 24 November 2024
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Two Israeli strikes hit south Beirut: Lebanon state media

  • “Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” official National News Agency said
  • The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said

BEIRUT: Lebanese state media reported two Israeli strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Sunday, about an hour after the Israeli military posted evacuation calls online for parts of the Hezbollah bastion.
“Israeli warplanes launched two violent strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs in the Kafaat area,” the official National News Agency said.
The southern Beirut area has been repeatedly struck since September 23 when Israel intensified its air campaign also targeting Hezbollah bastions in Lebanon’s east and south. It later sent in ground troops to southern Lebanon.
AFPTV footage showed grey smoke billowing over south Beirut.
The raids “caused massive destruction over a large geographical area” of the Kafaat district, NNA said.
Earlier Sunday, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned on social media platform X that the military would strike “Hezbollah facilities and interests” in the Hadath and Burj Al-Barajneh districts, also sharing maps of the areas to be evacuated.
Full-on war erupted following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Iran-backed Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas, after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack sparked the Gaza war.


Israel records 160 launches fom Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south

Israeli security forces and people inspect a damaged house at a site hit by rockets fired from Lebanon in Rinatya village.
Updated 23 min 36 sec ago
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Israel records 160 launches fom Lebanon as Hezbollah targets Tel Aviv, south

  • Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition

JERUSALEM: Israel’s army said Hezbollah fired around 160 projectiles into its territory from Lebanon on Sunday, with the group saying its attacks had targeted the Tel Aviv area and Israel’s south.
The Iran-backed group said in a statement that it had “launched, for the first time, an aerial attack using a swarm of attack drones on the Ashdod naval base” in southern Israel.
Later, it said it fired “a barrage of advanced missiles and a swarm of attack drones” at a “military target” in Tel Aviv, and had also launched a volley of missiles at the Glilot army intelligence base in the city’s suburbs.
The Israeli military did not comment on the specific attack claims when contacted by AFP.

But it said earlier that air raid sirens had sounded in several locations in central and northern Israel, including in the greater Tel Aviv suburbs.
It later reported that “approximately 160 projectiles that were fired by the Hezbollah terrorist organization have crossed from Lebanon into Israel.”
Some of the projectiles were shot down.
Medical agencies reported that at least 11 people were wounded, including a man in a “moderate to serious” condition.
AFP images from Petah Tikva, near Tel Aviv, showed several damaged and burned-out cars, and a house pockmarked by shrapnel.
The wave of projectiles follows at least four deadly Israeli strikes in central Beirut in the past week, including one that killed Hezbollah spokesman Mohammed Afif.
In a speech on Wednesday, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem had said the response to the recent strikes on the capital “must be expected on central Tel Aviv.”
The Lebanese army, meanwhile, said that a soldier was killed on Sunday and 18 others injured, “including some with severe wounds, as a result of an Israeli attack targeting a Lebanese army center in Amriyeh.”
Though the Lebanese army is not a party to the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Israeli strikes have killed 19 Lebanese soldiers in the last two months, authorities have said.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its Lebanon air campaign, later sending in ground troops after nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack, which sparked the Gaza war.
Lebanon’s health ministry says at least 3,670 people have been killed in the country since October 2023, most of them since September this year.


Israeli strike on Lebanese army center kills soldier, wounds 18 others

Updated 24 November 2024
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Israeli strike on Lebanese army center kills soldier, wounds 18 others

  • It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops
  • Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah militants.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah’s top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel’s ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country’s north.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.

Lebanon’s army reflects the religious diversity of the country and is respected as a national institution, but it does not have the military capability to impose its will on Hezbollah or resist Israel’s invasion.


Top EU diplomat urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Hezbollah-Israel war

European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell speaks during a press conference.
Updated 24 November 2024
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Top EU diplomat urges ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Hezbollah-Israel war

  • “We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said

BEIRUT: The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hezbollah war while on a visit to the Lebanese capital for talks.
Since September 23, Israel has intensified its air campaign in Lebanon, later sending in ground troops following nearly a year of limited exchanges of fire initiated by Hezbollah in support of its ally Hamas after the Palestinian group’s October 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war.
“We see only one possible way ahead: an immediate ceasefire and the full implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701,” Borrell said after meeting Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri, who has led mediation efforts on behalf of Hezbollah.
Resolution 1701 ended the last Hezbollah-Israel war of 2006 and stated that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only armed forces in the country’s south, where Hezbollah holds sway.
It also called for Israel to withdraw troops from Lebanon.
“Back in September I came and was still hoping we could prevent a full-fledged war of Israel attacking Lebanon,” Borrell said on Sunday.
“Two months later Lebanon is on the brink of collapse.”
He said the European Union was ready to provide 200 million euros for Lebanon’s army, whose deployment in larger numbers along the border forms a crucial point in truce talks.
France and Washington have been spearheading ceasefire efforts, with US envoy Amos Hochstein visiting Lebanon and Israel this week to discuss a truce plan based on implementing Resolution 1701.
“We must pressure the Israeli government and maintain the pressure on Hezbollah to accept the US proposal for a ceasefire,” Borrell said, calling for an “immediate” truce.