The financial prosecutor, Judge Ali Ibrahim, called on the owners of the 49 containers containing hazardous materials, stored, sometimes for several years, within the confines of the port of Beirut to pay the costs associated with their shipment for processing in Germany.

These costs are estimated at $ 2 million. If so, they could be stopped within a week.

As a reminder, 49 containers were discovered in the port of Beirut, devastated by the major explosion of August 4. The Lebanese authorities then decided to evacuate any dangerous, flammable or even toxic material from the port located near habitable areas.

While, according to the internal regulations, these containers could only be stored for a maximum period of 6 months, some had been present for many years, undergoing significant damage over time.

Among the explanations provided by some of the owners of these goods, their refusal to pay large commissions, implying the obligation to bribe some officials of the port facilities.

The explosion of the port of Beirut

As a reminder, more than 200 people are reported to have died and more than 6,500 people were injured in the explosion that devastated the port of Beirut and much of the Lebanese capital on 4 August. 300,000 people are also reported to be homeless as a result of the explosion.

The trail of an accidental explosion on 4 August 2020 of 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate inside a warehouse in beirut harbour, seized in 2014 on a garbage ship, the Moldovan-flagged Rhosus, is currently favoured by the Lebanese authorities. This explosion would be equivalent to that of 600 tons of TNT or an earthquake of 3.3 on the Richter scale.
It is said to have caused a crater 110 metres long and 43 metres deep, a security source said on Sunday (August 9th), citing comments by French experts at the scene.

Speaking in the Columns of the Washington Post on 7 September, the Prosecutor of the Republic, Judge Ghassan Oweidat, revealed that in addition to the 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate, kerosene, gazoil, 25 tons of fireworks and detonators for use for mines were also present in the same warehouse.

The presence of these products could have maintained the fire and allowed it to reach the temperatures allowing the explosion of ammonium nitrate, some experts point out.

The damage is estimated to be between $10 billion and $15 billion.

The port of Beirut, an area where corruption was widespread

The Lebanese authorities’ refusal to set up an international investigation is linked to the fear that the scale of corruption at Lebanon’s main gate would be involved in almost all Lebanese political parties, including some who are now calling for the investigation, some media sources note, under the guise of a temporary authority to manage the port of Beirut whose appointments were made on official sectarian lines.

Saad Hariri, who has been in question almost because of his closeness to the former director of the port of Beirut Hassan Koraytem for more than 20 years, now denies any direct link with him.

On the spot, operators note that the transit of goods often gives rise to a racketeering. Thus, in order to be able to get goods out of the port of Beirut, important undersides must be frequently paid.

Others note that some shipments are not checked. Goods are also under-billed so as not to pay taxes due to a state in financial crisis.

The investigation into those responsible for the explosion

At present, 33 people are currently under investigation. Of these, 25 people are currently being held as part of the investigation into the explosion. Among them, the director of the port of Beirut, Hassan Koraytem, as well as the director of the Lebanese customs services Badri Daher, both indicted by the investigating judge Fadi Sawwan, in charge of the investigation.

In total, several security officials and the port of Beirut were arrested.

Some sources point out that the various Lebanese political parties had shared the revenues of the port of Beirut , making it difficult at present to know the responsibilities of each in this explosion.

Several political parties, both majority and opposition, would also like to conclude the investigation quickly, having been involved in various traffickings that take place to or from the port of Beirut. They would like to avoid the degree of involvement of each individual and the security violations necessary to continue their trafficking.

Also, security officials had warned the political authorities several times in recent years, the judicial authorities have not decided on the implementation of the necessary measures of transfer of the cargo.

Sources close to the case also point to the responsibility of several administrations in the port of Beirut, especially since senior officials were aware of the danger posed by the improper storage of 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate since 2014.

Although the FBI report could not conclude on the origin of the explosion and suggests an apparently accidental lead based on information provided by the Lebanese authorities, Lebanon remains awaiting the results of parallel investigations conducted by France and Great Britain.

On 10 December, Judge Fadi Sawwan indicted outgoing Prime Minister Hassan Diab, former Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil and former transport ministers Ghazi Zeiter and Youssef Finianos.

The two former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zoeitar, also close to the president of the chamber Nabih Berri, then refused to go to the judge, believing they enjoy parliamentary immunity. However, this immunity has been the subject of controversy, with the Beirut Bar ruling that it cannot be applied in the context of this case.

The latter then obtain the judge’s dismissal in February 2021, the court of cassation, seized by 2 former ministers, the former minister of finance Ali Hassan Khalil and the former minister of transport Ghazi Zoaiter, having decided that the magistrate had motivated his decision whereas his residence is located in the district of ‘Ashrafieh also damaged by the explosion. He was therefore a stakeholder in this case.

Judge Tarek Bitar was then appointed on February 19 . Its name having already been proposed last August as part of the same procedure. At the time, however, he refused to become the investigative judge in the case of the tragedy of August 4, on the pretext of a heavy workload.

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