The Lebanese prosecutor investigating last summer’s Beirut port explosion has filed charges against the caretaker prime minister and three former ministers, the state’s official news agency said.
Fadi Sawan filed the charges against Hassan Diab, who resigned as PM a few days after the blast but has stayed on in an interim capacity; Ali Hassan Khalil, a former finance minister; and Ghazi Zaiter and Youssef Fenianos, both former ministers of public works.
All four were charged with negligence leading to the explosion, which killed more than 200 people and injured thousands. The blast was caused by the ignition of a large stockpile of explosive material, which had been stored at the port for years with the knowledge of top security officials and politicians.
The four are the most senior individuals to be indicted so far in the investigation, which is being conducted in secrecy. Anger has been building up over the slow progress, lack of answers and the fact that no senior officials had yet been indicted.
About 30 other security officials as well as port and customs officials have been detained as part of the investigation.
Zaiter became the transport and public works minister in 2014, followed by Fenianos in 2016, who held the job until the beginning of this year. Khalil was the finance minister from 2014 until 2020.
Both Khalil and Fenanios were subject to US sanctions in September this year, the first two Lebanese officials to come under such a sanction regime outside of the Hezbollah group.
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