Reuters Reuters
15 December, 2020, 12:25 pm
FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri speaks as he stands near caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab at the government palace in Beirut, Lebanon, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Hassan Diab, has declined to be questioned by the judge who charged him and three former ministers with negligence over the Beirut port blast, an official source said on Monday.
Judge Fadi Sawan’s charges have met pushback from influential parties including Shi’ite Hezbollah and Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri, underlining the political problems facing the investigation.
Lebanese are still waiting for answers more than four months since one of the biggest non-nuclear blasts on record. A huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate detonated in August after being stored unsafely for years, killing 200 people, injuring thousands and devastating entire districts.