Bulgaria adjourns extradition hearing for Beirut blast shipowner

A Bulgarian court on Monday adjourned an extradition hearing for a shipowner wanted over the devastating blast at Beirut port in 2020, asking Lebanon to confirm he would not face the death penalty.

Lebanon wants Bulgaria to extradite Igor Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot, over the disaster -- one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions -- which destroyed swathes of the Lebanese capital, killed more than 220 people and injured more than 6,500.

Grechushkin, who was arrested in September at Sofia airport, is accused by Lebanese judicial authorities of "introducing explosives into Lebanon -- a terrorist act that resulted in the death of a large number of people, disabling machinery with the intent of sinking a ship," according to Bulgarian prosecutors.

The court in Sofia decided on Monday to adjourn the extradition hearing until December 10, pending a response from Beirut.

President Joseph Aoun, who was in Sofia on Monday, told reporters there: "We remain steadfast in our determination to uncover the circumstances and shed light on the truth."

He stressed "the importance of judicial and criminal cooperation" between Bulgaria and Lebanon.

Authorities in Lebanon say the explosion on August 4, 2020, was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Beirut authorities have identified Grechushkin as the owner of the Rhosus, the ship that brought the ammonium nitrate into the port.

A Lebanese investigation into the blast was bogged down by legal and political wrangling.

Judge Tarek Bitar resumed the probe earlier this year when Lebanon's balance of power shifted.

Hezbollah had spearheaded a campaign for Bitar's resignation but it was weakened as a result of attacks by Israel.

Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.