Beirut (Lebanon) (AFP) – Lebanese President Joseph Aoun on Monday vowed that "justice is coming", five years after a catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port for which nobody has been held to account.
The blast on August 4, 2020 was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, devastating swathes of the Lebanese capital, killing more than 220 people and injuring over 6,500.
The explosion was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tonnes of ammonium nitrate fertiliser had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.
Aoun said that the Lebanese state "is committed to uncovering the whole truth, no matter the obstacles or how high the positions" involved.
"The law applies to all, without exception," Aoun said in a statement.
Monday has been declared a day of national mourning, and rallies demanding justice are planned later in the day, converging on the port.
"The blood of your loved ones will not be in vain," the president told victims' families, adding: "Justice is coming, accountability is coming."
After more than a two-year impasse following political and judicial obstruction, investigating judge Tarek Bitar has finished questioning defendants and suspects, a judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Those questioned include former prime minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials, while several former ministers did not appear for questioning, the official said.
Bitar is waiting for some procedures to be completed and for responses to requests last month to several Arab and European countries for "information on specific incidents", the official added, without elaborating.
The judge will then finalise the investigation and refer the file to the public prosecution for its opinion before he issues an indictment, the official said.
President Aoun said that "we are working with all available means to ensure the investigations are completed with transparency and integrity."
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, a former International Court of Justice judge, said on Sunday that knowing the truth and ensuring accountability were national issues, decrying decades of official impunity.
Bitar resumed his inquiry after Aoun took office in January and as Salam formed a government the following month, with both leaders pledging to uphold judicial independence after the balance of power shifted following a devastating war between Israel and militant group Hezbollah.
The probe stalled after the Iran-backed group, long a dominant force in Lebanese politics but weakened by the latest war, had accused Bitar of bias and demanded his removal, and after officials named in the investigation filed a flurry of lawsuits seeking to prevent it from going forward.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said in a joint statement on Monday that "despite the resumption of the investigation, the road to justice remains littered with political and legal challenges".
Mariana Fodoulian from the association of victims' families said that "for five years, officials have been trying to evade accountability, always thinking they are above the law."
"We're not asking for anything more than the truth," she told AFP.
"We won't stop until we get comprehensive justice."
United Nations special coordinator for Lebanon, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, on Monday urged authorities to "take all necessary action to expedite progress in judicial proceedings related to the explosion".
The US and British embassies in Lebanon urged accountability in statements on X, while the European Union on Sunday welcomed recent steps "that have enabled progress in the investigation", noting that "ending impunity is essential for Lebanon's recovery."
On Sunday, Culture Minister Ghassan Salame said the port's gutted and partially collapsed wheat silos would be included on a list of historic buildings.
Victims' families have long demanded their preservation as a memorial of the catastrophe.
"The silos are the only witness to what happened on August 4," said Fodoulian.