Interior Minister Threatens to Quit
Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi said on Thursday that he plans to step down from his post if names of those responsible for the mega Beirut port blast were not disclosed at the end of the five-day investigation deadline, al-Joumhouria daily reported.
“I will resign if the investigation committee does not name the culprits responsible for the Beirut blast when the five-day investigation deadline ends,” said Fahmi in remarks to the daily.
The Minister said “maximum punishments must be taken against the perpetrators, or I go home ... there is no compromise on this issue.”
Lebanon government has given an "investigative committee" four days to determine responsibility for Tuesday’s devastating explosion in Beirut port, Foreign Minister Charbel Wehbe had said.
At least 149 people died and more than 5,000 were injured in Tuesday's colossal explosion of a huge pile of ammonium nitrate that had languished for years in a port warehouse in the capital.
Fahmi said 23 individuals have been detained so far for investigation.
Two Lebanese officials-- Lebanon's ambassador to Jordan Tracy Chamoun, and lawmaker Marwan Hamadeh--have resigned since Tuesday's blast killed nearly 150 people and wounded thousands and destroyed entire districts of the capital.
Source: Naharnet
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