Justice Minister Henri Khoury is supposed to present “balanced” suggestions to Cabinet on Wednesday on the controversy surrounding Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, media reports said, after an escalation by Hizbullah and its allies forced the suspension of Tuesday’s Cabinet session.

Ex-minister and incumbent MP Ali Hassan Khalil considered the arrest warrant issued against him by the judicial investigator Tarek Bitar “illegal.”

“It is not based on any legal justification,” he said Tuesday, in a televised interview.

A Cessna-172 training plane belonging to the Aeroclub of Lebanon crashed into the sea off the Lebanese town of Halat on Wednesday with two people on board.

Member of the Democratic Gathering, MP Wael Abu Faour said Wednesday in a statement that “the Higher Defense Council refused to grant permission to prosecute Director of State Security Major General (Tony) Saliba, because the latter might expose all the correspondences with the presidential palace.”

“As expected,” he said, adding that “the reason why the permission to prosecute Saliba wasn’t granted is clear.”

The lead spokesperson for the external affairs of the EU, Peter Stano, said Tuesday that the Beirut port blast investigation has to be “completed as soon as possible,” and that it should be impartial, credible and transparent.

“The European Union recalls that the investigation into the Beirut Port blast should be completed as soon as possible, and that it should be impartial, credible, transparent as well as independent,” Stano said in a video message.

A Cabinet session was suspended Tuesday and adjourned to Wednesday, after it witnessed a heated debate over a demand by the ministers of Hizbullah, Amal Movement and Marada Movement for a stance on Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, TV networks said.

Army Says Arsal Nitrates Agricultural as Charges Filed in Iaat Case

The army on Tuesday announced that a quantity of ammonium nitrate seized in the eastern border town of Arsal is not explosive, as charges were filed in the case of the ammonium nitrate truck confiscated in the Bekaa town of Iaat.

Head of Free Patriotic Movement Jebran Bassil said Tuesday that even though the bloc “is not part of the new government,” the FPM will do what it can to help the government overcome the crisis.

He pointed out that “we were handed a country that is occupied, under (Syrian) tutelage and lacks sovereignty” and that “we are working to give it back its freedom and independence.”

Lead investigator in port blast case, Judge Tarek Bitar, issued Tuesday an in-absentia arrest warrant against ex-minister and MP Ali Hassan Khalil after the latter failed to appear this morning as a defendant before the Judge for interrogation.

Bitar reportedly accused Khalil of committing the crimes of murder, vandalism and arson, coupled with possible intent and professional negligence.

Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on Monday launched his fiercest attack to date on Beirut port blast investigator Judge Tarek Bitar, calling for replacing him with a “transparent and honest judge.”