The Lebanese judge investigating the catastrophic Beirut port explosion in 2020 has completed his work after more than five years.
Judge Tareq Bitar has sent the case to Attorney General Jamal Hajjar for review, Lebanon’s National News Agency said.
It took two judges and five-and-a-half years to finish the politically fraught inquiry, which was repeatedly paralysed by legal challenges.
Mr Hajjar will be expected to submit his opinion regarding suspects who were questioned in 2025 and are awaiting his decision. About 70 people are believed to be implicated in the case.
The August 2020 blast, one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in history, killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. Hundreds of tonnes of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate exploded after a fire in a port warehouse – after years of warnings to senior officials about the explosive substance.
Mr Bitar was not the first judge assigned to the investigation, which was beset by administrative obstacles and political interference. Judge Fadi Sawn was removed from the investigation after he charged three former ministers and then-outgoing prime minister Hassan Diab with negligence in connection with the explosion.
After taking on the inquiry, Mr Bitar charged officials including then-public prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat, as well as former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former public works minister Ghazi Zeaiter.
In January 2023, after Mr Bitar filed charges against Mr Oueidat in connection to the explosion, Mr Oueidat countercharged the judge with “usurping the role of investigating judge and abuse of authority". The charges were later dropped.
For years, the investigation led by Mr Bitar was paralysed by legal challenges, recusals, and outright refusals by senior officials to appear for questioning.
Several defendants invoked immunities or filed lawsuits aimed at removing the judge, effectively freezing the investigation for extended periods.
The families of the victims of the port explosion accuse the political class of obstructing justice, staging monthly protests while calling for an international investigation.
