Sawwan Summons Fenianos, Hazimeh for Questioning over Port Blast

The lead investigator into the Beirut port explosion Judge Fadi Sawwan summoned former minister of public works Youssef Fenianos for questioning on Thursday, the National News Agency reported on Monday.

Fenianos will appear before Sawwan as a defendant in the August 4 blast, said the Agency.

Sawwan has also summoned former customs chief at Beirut port, Moussa Hazmieh, for questioning, added NNA.

Lebanon's former army chief Jean Qahwaji, who was army chief until 2017, testified before Sawwan last week.

He said that he had recommended, years before the explosion, that tons of seized ammonium nitrate stored there be sold privately or sent back to importers.

In December, Sawwan filed charges against caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab and three former ministers, accusing them of negligence leading to the deaths of hundreds of people.

The charges sparked a backlash and the former ministers challenged the judge's authority in court, bringing the probe to a halt. But the country's highest court asked Sawwan to resume his work.

The questioning of Kahwaji signaled the resumption of the probe, and is likely to ease public concerns that the investigation was derailed, given Lebanon’s decades-long culture of impunity and political interference in judicial matters.

Nearly 30 people, most of them port and customs officials, have been arrested since the blast.