UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the port of Beirut as part of a ceremony to pay tribute to the victims of the explosion of August 4, 2020.
The UN Secretary General thus called for an impartial and transparent investigation to be carried out, “the Lebanese people deserve the truth”.
These remarks then intervene in Lebanon itself, a controversy concerning the arrest warrant published by the judge in charge of the investigation against the former finance minister Ali Hassan Khalil had resulted in the paralysis of the Mikati III government, the ministers of the Amal movement and of Hezbollah even threatening to resign if the judge Tarek Bitrar was not removed from the case.
In Lebanon today, I paid tribute to victims of last year’s devastating Beirut Port blast, which took the lives of more than 200 people.
– António Guterres (@antonioguterres) December 20, 2021
An impartial & transparent investigation into this tragic event is crucial to ensure justice.
The Lebanese people deserve the truth. pic.twitter.com/KRua8gka06
Antonio Guterres thus laid a wreath in front of the memorial to the victims of this explosion which, according to the latest available toll, left 238 dead and more than 6,500 injured.
He had previously visited several Lebanese personalities including the President of the Chamber of Deputies Nabih Berri – a meeting described as constructive with him – or even several religious dignitaries including the Maronite Patriarch Béchara Boutros Sfeir and the mufti of the republic.
