President Michel Aoun met with Armed Forces Commander General Joseph Aoun and several military officials on Friday for discussions on the situation at the port of Beirut after the deadly mega blast and a huge fire one month after.

During his visit this month, French President Emmanuel Macron gave Lebanon's politicians a road map for policy changes and reform, set deadlines for them to take action and told them he'd be back in December to check on progress.

It was a hands-on approach that angered some in Lebanon and was welcomed by others. And it revived a bitter question in the tiny Mediterranean country: Can Lebanese rule themselves?

Progressive Socialist party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblat said Friday the fire that broke out at Beirut port yesterday sought to “demolish evidence” in the case of the colossal Beirut blast earlier in August.

Prime Minister designate Mustafa Adib said the fire that broke out on Thursday at the Beirut port “can not be justified by anyone” stressing the need for accountability.

A third European Union Humanitarian Air Bridge flight, one of the largest of its kind, is landing in Beirut on Saturday 12 September 2020 at 17h30, the EU Delegation to Lebanon said on Thursday.

Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management, will be joining the flight from Munich to Beirut.

Trial Chamber II of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon has confirmed the court’s jurisdiction to try Salim Ayyash in relation to the attacks on George Hawi, Elias Murr and Marwan Hamadeh, the STL said on Thursday.

“In a decision issued today, Trial Chamber II found that there is no reason to decline to exercise its jurisdiction in this case, as it considers that the requirements of Article 1 of the Statute have been met when it comes to the connectedness between the three attacks pleaded in the indictment and the 14 February 2005 attack,” the STL said in a statement.

Caretaker Public Works and Transport Minister Michel Najjar announced Thursday that a huge new blaze at Beirut port was sparked by maintenance works, citing preliminary reports.

“The port fire has been brought under control and there will be a probe after the dousing of the flames,” Najjar told MTV.

President Michel Aoun on Thursday convened the Higher Defense Council to discuss the new fire that erupted earlier in the day at the blast-hit Beirut port.

"Today's fire could be an intentional act of sabotage, the result of a technical error, ignorance, or negligence. In all cases, the cause needs to be known as soon as possible, and those responsible held to account," Aoun said during the meeting, according to his office.

Caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm and State Prosecutor Ghassan Oueidat on Thursday ordered a probe into the huge blaze that erupted at Beirut port -- the second fire in a week at the site of the devastating August 4 blast.

The National News Agency said Oueidat has issued judicial writs and asked experts from the Civil Defense and the Beirut Fire Brigade to identify the cause of the blaze.

A huge fire broke out Thursday at the Port of Beirut, the site of last month's catastrophic explosion that killed nearly 200 people and devastated parts of the capital. The new fire nearly 40 days after the blast triggered widespread panic among traumatized residents of the area.

Some sought safety in closed bathrooms or threw open their windows to guard against shattering glass in case of another blast; others piled into cars to flee the capital.