Families of Port Victims Rally outside Justice Palace to Support Bitar

Dozens of Lebanese, including families of Beirut port explosion victims, rallied Monday outside the Justice Palace in support of Judge Tarek Bitar after he was forced to suspend his work as a lead investigator into the Beirut port blast.

Protesters held portraits of their loved ones who died in the explosion.

They also held posters of politicians accusing them of protecting the corrupted and of neglect, as they "knew" about the dangerous ammonium nitrate stored at the port but did nothing.

Protesters chanted slogans as they burned tires and garbage containers to block the road outside the Justice Palace.

Bitar has been forced to suspend his probe repeatedly over lawsuits filed by officials he had called in for questioning on suspicion of negligence.

The lawsuits against Bitar will inevitably delay the presentation of his findings which were previously expected by the year's end.

Rights groups and relatives of blast victims say "flagrant political interference, immunity for high-level political officials, and lack of respect for fair trial" have rendered the Beirut blast probe incapable of delivering justice.