Protesters scuffle with riot police outside the Ministry of Justice in Beirut, where the row over the probe into the deadly port explosion rumbles on. AP
Protesters scuffle with riot police outside the Ministry of Justice in Beirut, where the row over the probe into the deadly port explosion rumbles on. AP
Protesters scuffle with riot police outside the Ministry of Justice in Beirut, where the row over the probe into the deadly port explosion rumbles on. AP
Protesters scuffle with riot police outside the Ministry of Justice in Beirut, where the row over the probe into the deadly port explosion rumbles on. AP

Lebanese MPs charged in blast probe file appeals to remove investigator


Nada Homsi
  • English
  • Arabic

Two Lebanese MPs charged in connection with the explosion at Beirut port on Monday filed appeals to have the lead investigator dismissed in the latest attempt by those he has charged to stall the probe.

MPs Ghazi Zaiter and Ali Hassan Khalil, members of Hezbollah ally the Amal Movement, filed appeals only days after Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation that had been delayed for months by political interference. The resumption led to more judicial paralysis as another judge ordered him to stop and accusations were made by rights groups that officials were obstructing justice.

Attorney for the MPs, Samer Hajj, confirmed the latest move and showed The National a copy of the appeals he had filed.

“The first appeal I filed was a form on behalf of both MPs requesting the transfer” of the judge leading the investigation, “and the second was a penal complaint against him by Ali Hassan Khalil”, Mr Hajj said.

Mr Khalil accused Mr Bitar of “abuse of power and breach of job duties”.

"Judge Bitar’s role in the investigation is a violation of his position, provoking sectarian and racial strife,” the complaint stated.

The MP also accused Mr Bitar of “usurping administrative authority" and committing "the crime of impersonating Lebanon's top prosecutor".

Mr Bitar last week cited legal residence and unexpectedly resumed his investigation after 13 months and charged multiple high-profile officials in connection with the blast ― including Prosecutor General Ghassan Oueidat, head of General Security Gen Abbas Ibrahim and State Security chief Gen Tony Saliba.

The backlash to those charges was immediate, leading to challenges from within the judiciary itself and a legal tug-of-war.

Mr Oueidat maintains that the investigation is still suspended and says Mr Bitar is "rebelling against the judiciary".

Mr Bitar, however, cited studies that challenge the suspension’s legality.

Mr Khalil and Mr Zaiter were charged in December 2020 by the previous judge leading the investigation into the port blast, Fadi Sawan. Both deny wrongdoing and have refused to attend interrogation hearings.

In 2021 the pair launched a legal complaint against Mr Sawan, leading to his removal. Mr Sawan was replaced by Mr Bitar, who is now charged by the same two MPs who had sought to remove his predecessor.

Amnesty International last week accused Lebanese authorities of repeatedly obstructing the investigation into the explosion that killed more than 200 people on August 4, 2020, and destroyed much of downtown Beirut, "by shielding politicians and officials implicated in the explosion from questioning, prosecution and arrest".

Rights groups, including Amnesty, have documented "a range of procedural and systemic flaws in the domestic investigation, including flagrant political interference, immunity for high-level political officials, lack of respect for the fair trial standards, and due process violations", the statement said.

The specs

Engine: 1.5-litre turbo

Power: 181hp

Torque: 230Nm

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

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The biog

Nickname: Mama Nadia to children, staff and parents

Education: Bachelors degree in English Literature with Social work from UAE University

As a child: Kept sweets on the window sill for workers, set aside money to pay for education of needy families

Holidays: Spends most of her days off at Senses often with her family who describe the centre as part of their life too

Living in...

This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.

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Name: ARDH Collective
Based: Dubai
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Sector: Sustainability
Total funding: Self funded
Number of employees: 4
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Series result

1st ODI Zimbabwe won by 6 wickets

2nd ODI Sri Lanka won by 7 wickets

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4th ODI Zimbabwe won by 4 wickets

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Why it pays to compare

A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.

Route 1: bank transfer

The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.

Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount

Total received: €4,670.30 

Route 2: online platform

The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.

Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction

Total received: €4,756

The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League final:

Who: Real Madrid v Liverpool
Where: NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium, Kiev, Ukraine
When: Saturday, May 26, 10.45pm (UAE)
TV: Match on BeIN Sports

New UK refugee system

 

  • A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
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  • To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
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Avatar: Fire and Ash

Director: James Cameron

Starring: Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Zoe Saldana

Rating: 4.5/5

Coal Black Mornings

Brett Anderson

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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history

Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)

Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.

 

Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)

A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.

 

Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)

Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.

 

Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)

Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Step by step

2070km to run

38 days

273,600 calories consumed

28kg of fruit

40kg of vegetables

45 pairs of running shoes

1 yoga matt

1 oxygen chamber

Updated: January 30, 2023, 6:26 PM