Just as it was looking as if the country was marching towards a better political and economic future, simmering tensions surrounding the investigation of the incident exploded
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Dec. 19, 2020
“You can’t extort a prime minister. That’s final. We won’t accept this,” Lebanese Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri fumed this week. His rage was directed at the announcement of the judge investigating the deadly Beirut port blast in August. According to the declaration, the judge intends to investigate every prime minister who has held the position since 2013, the year the ammonia that caused the explosion was unloaded from a ship into the port s storage.
The judge, Fadi Sawan, even had the nerve to accuse outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab of overall responsibility for the explosion. He also summoned three former ministers for questioning, on top of the dozens of witnesses who have already been questioned and the detainees awaiting trial.