Protest as fate of Beirut blast probe hangs in balance

More than 200 people protested outside Lebanon's justice palace yesterday over efforts to derail an investigation into the deadly 2020 Beirut port explosion, as top judges cancelled a meeting to discuss the fate of the inquiry.

Judge Tarek Bitar announced on Monday he was resuming his investigation into the blast that killed more than 220 people, after a 13-month suspension caused by legal wrangling and high-level political pressure.

But Lebanon's top public prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat objected, filed charges against Bitar for allegedly mishandling the inquiry, and released the remaining 17 detainees still held over the investigation.

Yesterday, Oweidat - himself charged by Bitar this week with unspecified offences - issued an additional decision telling the judiciary not to accept any orders, warrants or other documents issued by Bitar.

The explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts on record, was caused by hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been unloaded at the port in 2013.