Nasrallah Says This Week Decisive on Govt., Criticizes Port Blast Probe
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday said decisive meetings will be held this week regarding the issue of the new government, as he criticized the course of the probe into the catastrophic 2020 explosion at the port of Beirut.
“These days are supposed to be decisive regarding the cabinet formation issue and the meetings that will be held today, tomorrow and Wednesday can make things clearer,” Nasrallah said in a televised address.
“There is a system crisis in Lebanon and the governmental crisis is a reflection of this crisis. There is also a political crisis, rampant corruption, thefts and monopolization,” he added.
Lashing out at Washington, Nasrallah accused the United States of “imposing a siege on Lebanon and preventing any help from the world.”
“The U.S. ambassador is shedding crocodile tears over the Lebanese,” Nasrallah added.
Turning to the issue of the port blast probe, Hizbullah’s leader voiced concerns and regretted that those summoned Friday by Judge Tarek al-Bitar “knew that they were being summoned from the media.”
“Justice is still distant and the truth is still concealed,” Nasrallah lamented, reminding that he had called on Bitar’s predecessor, Judge Fadi Sawwan, to publish the technical findings of the investigation and to say whether Hizbullah had any weapons at the port at the time of the blast.
“We reject any political exploitation of the Beirut port blast investigation,” Nasrallah went on to say.
On Friday, state-run National News Agency said Bitar had summoned outgoing premier Hassan Diab and taken steps towards indicting several former ministers and incumbent and ex-security officials over the explosion. Three of the former ministers that Bitar will act against are members of parties that are allied with Hizbullah. The judge also intends to prosecute General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, who is also considered to be close to Hizbullah.
A similar move led to Bitar's predecessor being thrown off the case in February, after causing an uproar among the political elite for issuing charges against Diab and former cabinet ministers.
Source: Naharnet
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