Lebanon prosecutor issues warrant for MP charged over Beirut blast

Public prosecutor instructed police to carry out warrant in January when current parliamentary session ends and MPs lose immunity

Former Lebanese finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil walks to attend a meeting in Baabda. Reuters

Lebanon's public prosecutor on Tuesday instructed security forces to arrest a top politician on charges pertaining to the Beirut port blast, a senior judicial source said, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the member of the Lebanese Parliament and his powerful ally, Hezbollah.

Tarek Bitar, the judge investigating last year's catastrophic port explosion, first issued a warrant for the arrest of Ali Hassan Khalil, a former finance minister, on October 12 after he did not attend a scheduled interrogation.

He is the right-hand man of House Speaker Nabih Berri and one of several current and former senior politicians and security officials charged in connection with the blast that killed more than 200 people. All have refused to be interrogated by Mr Bitar, saying he lacks the authority to do so and is biased.

The arrest warrant called for Mr Khalil to be detained once parliament is out of session, which the constitution says will be the case on January 1.

The constitution bars the arrest of parliament members while the legislature is in session unless they are caught in the act of a crime or a vote is held to allow for their prosecution.

Mr Bitar had originally issued the warrant when parliament was out of session but security forces held off enacting it, leading Mr Bitar on Friday to call on them to carry it out or risk facing prosecution themselves.

On Monday, the Amal Movement, of which Mr Khalil is a senior member, said in a statement that the judiciary was being used in the case “to strike internal stability".

An October protest called for by Hezbollah and Amal against Mr Bitar two days after he issued the warrant against Mr Khalil descended into the worst street fighting in Beirut in more than a decade.

Members of the Lebanese Internal Security Forces lay flowers in front of a memorial to the victims of the explosion in Beirut's port last year.

Portraits of victims of last year's Beirut port blast.

A man, right, hangs a giant Lebanese flag on a building that was damaged in last year's blast.

France's President Emmanuel Macron remotely attends a Lebanon donors' conference one year after the Beirut port blast.

Police hold flowers to mark the anniversary of Beirut's 2020 port blast on August 5.

Police hold flowers to mark the anniversary of Beirut's massive 2020 port blast.

Police hold flowers to mark the anniversary of the Beirut port explosion.

Banners reading 'Here starts your end and our beginning' and 'Hostages of a murderous state' hang on a building damaged in last August's port blast, as Lebanon marks a year since a the cataclysmic explosion devastated Lebanon's capital.

A gavel monument symbolising justice can be seen in front of the damaged grain silos at Beirut port, as Lebanon marks a year since an explosion ravaged the country's capital.

Supporters of Lebanon's Free Patriotic Movement release white balloons to mark one year since the huge explosion in Beirut's port. At least 200 people were killed, and more than 6,000 injured in the blast on August 4, 2020.

Supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement release paper lanterns to mark one year since a huge explosion in Beirut's port.

A man in a wheelchair flies a Lebanese flag during a protest demanding justice for the victims of last year's Beirut port blast.

Demonstrators gather outside Beirut port on the anniversary of the blast that ravaged the city last August. Hundreds of Lebanese marched on August 4 to mark the explosion, protesting against impunity over the country's worst peacetime disaster at a time when its economy was already in tatters.

Relatives of Beirut port blast victims arrive for a remembrance ceremony at the site of the explosion on the first anniversary of the disaster.

Relatives of Beirut port blast victims arrive for a remembrance ceremony at the site of the explosion on the first anniversary of the disaster.

Demonstrators gather by the statue of 'The Lebanese Emigrant' near Beirut port on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city.

A demonstrator marches with a sign showing one of the young victims of the 2020 Beirut blast.

People carry flags and banners as they march to mark the anniversary of Beirut's port blast.

Priests pray near the remains of Beirut port on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the port and the city.

Demonstrators in Lebanon's capital march past a statue symbolising "Beirut rising from destruction" on their way towards the port on the first anniversary of the blast that ravaged the city.

France's President Emmanuel Macron talks to his Lebanese counterpart Michel Aoun during a remote international conference to raise aid for the country. France has pledged about €100 million ($118.3m) in emergency aid as well as 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses for Lebanon.

Nuns pray during a mass organised at the Beirut port with the relatives of last year's blast victims.

A priest comforts the relative of a blast victim at a Mass organised in Beirut.

Families and relatives of people killed in the blast carried portraits of their loved ones to the commemoration Mass in Beirut.

Families and relatives of victims of the explosion at Beirut port attend a Mass held to commemorate the anniversary.

Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai arrives to lead a Mass in memory of people who died in the explosion.

Relatives of people who died in the 2020 Beirut blast attend a Maronite Christian Mass at the city’s port.

A relative of a victim of the blast weeps as she attends the Mass.

A fire engine carrying portraits of blast victims is driven during a remembrance ceremony at the port of Lebanon’s capital.

Relatives of the Beirut port blast victims arrive for a remembrance ceremony at the Lebanese capital’s port.