Beirut blast probe to resume after court rejects complaints

Beirut, Oct 5 Lebanese Judge Tarek Bitar will on Tuesday resume his investigations into the August 2020 Port of Beirut blasts after the Court of Appeal rejected legal complaints filed against him by former Ministers.

The court said it was not qualified to rule on the complaints while it fined each of the former ministers 800,000 Lebanese pounds ($46) for this "frivolous claim", reports Xinhua news agency.

The investigation was suspended for a week after former Interior Minister Nouhad Machnouk filed a complaint against Bitar in addition to a similar charge lodged by former Ministers.

Bitar, leading the probe into the Beirut blasts which killed over 200 people, aims to question the former Ministers on suspicion of negligence.

The twin explosions on August 4, 2020, also injured at least 6,000 people and left 300,000 others homeless.

A big part of the Lebanese capital was destroyed in the disaster.

Investigations pointed to the roughly 500 tonnes of ammonium nitrate left at the port as the cause of the explosions.