Hezbollah leader wants investigator in Beirut blast replaced

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Bitar has been the recipient of heavy criticism from Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, who has repeatedly accused him of politicizing the probe. On Monday, Nasrallah spent nearly a quarter of his one-hour speech meant to address the country’s multiple crises to criticize almost every decision Bitar has made. He accused him of politicizing the probe, targeting mainly officials who are allies of Hezbollah while failing to even question others. Some Lebanese have pointed the finger at Hezbollah, saying it may have stored explosives at the port, a charge the group denies. No evidence has emerged that links Hezbollah directly to the blast and none of its members are defendants in the case. Bitar’s removal, if it happens, will be a major blow to the investigation, and a clear violation of the already questioned independence of the judiciary.

by english.alaraby.co.uk -- The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement Monday accused the judge leading investigations into last year's port blast of politicising the probe and called for an "honest" judge to take over. Tarek Bitar, appointed to lead investigations in February after his predecessor was removed for summoning senior leaders, has come under increasing scrutiny for also going after top officials suspected of criminal negligence. He was recently forced to suspend his work for a week because of lawsuits filed by former ministers demanding his removal, before a court this month turned down their request allowing him to resume investigations. "There are very big mistakes happening... (Bitar) won't deliver the truth, nor will he deliver justice; only injustice and an obscuring of the truth," Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah said. "This doesn't mean we are calling for an end to investigations, not at all, but we are calling for an honest and transparent judge to work on a probe that is also clear, transparent" and free of political bias, he added.

Speaking in a televised address, Nasrallah accused Bitar of "working toward political objectives," without elaborating. The Hezbollah leader said Bitar's summonses revealed a political bias. "We had warned him not to be biased and not to politicise the investigation... now he is approaching it as though he is the master of the case." Last month, Lebanese media leaked a message from a senior Hezbollah official to Bitar, threatening him with removal over his approach to the investigation. "Things cannot go on this way, especially in the coming days," Nasrallah said on Monday.

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Fire destroys 250,000 liters of petrol in Lebanese oil facility

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By NAJIA HOUSSARI -- arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Firefighters extinguished a blaze that broke out on Monday morning at Al-Zahrani oil facility, south of Beirut, with Lebanese Energy Minister Walid Fayyad estimating that 250,000 liters of petrol had been destroyed in the incident. He suggested the fire had been caused by a “mistake during the process of transporting the fuel that was in the tank, whose ceiling was tilted.” As many as 15 fully staffed fire trucks worked to control the fire by isolating the tank to prevent the flames from spreading. The fire provoked memories of the massive blast at Beirut Port 14 months ago, which killed more than 200 people, injured thousands, and devastated the capital. People went on social media to express their fears about the Al-Zahrani fire being deliberate, while others regretted their “bad luck and the never-ending daily catastrophes.” An investigation has been launched into the fire. “We must wait for the results of the investigation in order to know whether anyone is responsible or whether the fire was caused by natural factors,” Fayyad noted.

Civil Defense Director-General Brig. Gen. Raymond Khattar said it was “too early” to know the causes of the fire. The Lebanese army gave 6,000 kiloliters of gas oil to Electricite du Liban from its reserves to reconnect the electrical grid in production plants to bring the country out of its total blackout due to fuel shortages. Fayyad said: “Today, the Jiyeh reverse engine plant was connected to the grid with a power of 50 megawatts, Deir Ammar plant with a power of 210 megawatts, and the reverse engine plant in Zouk with a power of 120 megawatts, as well as Al-Zahrani. “This quantity is enough for three days, after which the plants’ production capacity will be replaced by another from the Zouk and Jiyeh thermal plants after supplying them with the fuel oil that arrived on Sunday evening, samples of which were examined by the Bureau Veritas labs in Dubai. The total production capacity will thus remain within limits at 500 megawatts to maintain the grid’s stability. “The Central Bank has agreed to secure $100 million to conduct a bid to import fuel, which will help raise the hours of electricity supply by the end of this month.”

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President Michel Suleiman: وأنا أتمنى أن يستدعيني القاضي البيطار اليوم قبل الغد

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منقول كما هو :
*سبق ان صرَّح الرئيس سليمان مراراً استعداده للذهاب الى القاضي والادلاء بما يعلم، وتحديدا من صرح بكركي :*
 *ولدى سوأله عن تصريح نصرالله اليوم اجاب …. انه ما يزال على استعداد للذهاب الى القاضي باستدعاء ودون استدعاء*
 *وهذا ما صرَّح به سابقاً فخامة الرئيس ميشال سليمان سابقا* 
١١/٨/٢٠٢١
 _سليمان من بكركي: أتمنى أن يستدعيني القاضي البيطار_ ..
وتحدث سليمان عن "موضوع التحقيق القضائي في انفجار مرفأ بيروت"، فقال: "لا يجوز التحدث في موضوع الحصانات، فهناك أكثر من مئتي شهيد وآلاف الجرحى وتدمير العاصمة، والدستور لم يوضع لحماية النواب والسياسيين. وأنا أطلب من النواب والوزراء والرؤساء أن يمثلوا أمام القضاء ويدلوا بشهاداتهم، فالبعض يلمح ويذكر اسمي في موضوع التحقيق،
*وأنا أتمنى أن يستدعيني القاضي البيطار اليوم قبل الغد، وسأذهب من دون التوقف عند المادة 60 من الدستور، التي تعطي الحصانة للرؤساء، ومن دون محام حتى.*

Al Rahi initiates call for Lebanese, international monitoring of electoral process

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by lbcgroup.tv -- Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al Rahi appealed for a Lebanese and international surveillance of the electoral process starting today. Speaking in his religious sermon as he presided over Sunday Mass this morning, the Patriarch said: "While the people and friends of Lebanon want a better future for the country, we are keen on holding the parliamentary elections at their constitutional dates, so that changing the dates, amending the existing law, and circumventing the participation of expatriates do not become excuses that threaten the holding of elections against the will of the people and the international community." He added that "tampering with the issue of elections this time would lead to risks of unknown repercussions…

The people want the elections as an opportunity to change their painful reality, and a starting point for a new national life. The people want transparent and fair elections, far from political money that bets on people's poverty to buy their votes and conscience. Therefore, we call, from now, for Lebanese and international monitoring of the electoral process." Over the new government’s mission, the Patriarch said: "We are counting on the current government, especially on its head, who assured us, in his honorable visit yesterday, of his determination to work to overcome the many obstacles that would confront his cabinet, and to embark on the reform workshop immediately, without which there is no success, aid, or Arab and international solidarity."

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State electricity returns in Lebanon but still maxes out at two hours in most areas

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by By Tamara Qiblawi, CNN -- Lebanon's main state electricity company supplied around two hours of power to the national grid, local residents told CNN on Sunday, a day after the country was reported to have disconnected from its grid due to fuel depletion. On Saturday, Lebanon's Energy Minister Walid Fayad told CNN Arabic that reports of a total power outage in the country were "exaggerated" and that the "situation is not worse than it was previously." Lebanon's state electricity company has been supplying as little as two hours of power a day since July because of severe fuel shortages that have plunged much of the country into darkness. Back-up generators -- which the country has long relied on for power outages that typically lasted three hours a day -- began to ration power, with most cutting supplies by over 12 hours a day. Many in Lebanon have stopped subscribing to generators because of skyrocketing electricity bills.

Lebanon, which has been in the throes of an economic depression since late 2019, has the highest inflation rate in the world, according to Bloomberg. The country's new government -- formed by Prime Minister Najib Mikati in September -- has been trying to negotiate the supply of Egyptian gas via Jordan and Egypt in order to alleviate the fuel crisis. Fayad told CNN that negotiations have advanced "greatly." Iran-backed Hezbollah has also facilitated multiple fuel shipments from Iran. It has sought to circumvent US sanctions on Tehran by transporting the fuel to Lebanon from Syria's port city of Baniyas. Meanwhile, there has been uproar on Lebanon's social media over pictures that showed Fayad at a popular Beirut beach on Saturday while the country's energy crisis made international headlines. CNN spoke to an eyewitness who confirmed the veracity of the photos.

Lebanese power outage will last for several days - government official

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BEIRUT,  (Reuters) - Lebanon has no centrally generated electricity after fuel shortages forced its two largest power stations to shut down, a government official told Reuters on Saturday. "The Lebanese power network completely stopped working at noon today, and it is unlikely that it will work until next Monday, or for several days," the official said. The state electricity company confirmed in a statement that the thermoelectric plant at the Zahrani power station had stopped. The Deir Ammar plant stopped on Friday. The shutdown of the two power stations had "directly affected the stability of the power network and led to its complete outage, with no possibility of resuming operations in the meantime," the statement said.

The Lebanese army agreed to provide 6,000 kilolitres of gas oil distributed equally between the two power stations, the state electricity company said in a statement reported by National News Agency. This quantity will secure power in Lebanon for three days, the statement added. Many Lebanese normally rely on private generators that run on diesel, although that is in short supply. Lebanon has been paralysed by an economic crisis which has deepened as supplies of imported fuel have dried up. The Lebanese currency has fallen by 90% since 2019. Reporting by Laila Bassam; Writing by Nayera Abdallah and Enas Alashray; Editing by William Maclean and Mike Harrison Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.