Lebanese President Rejects Int’l Probe in Beirut Blast to ‘Protect Country’s Sovereignty’

A Lebanese Red Cross member walks among the debris from damaged buildings following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2020. (Reuters)
A Lebanese Red Cross member walks among the debris from damaged buildings following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2020. (Reuters)
TT

Lebanese President Rejects Int’l Probe in Beirut Blast to ‘Protect Country’s Sovereignty’

A Lebanese Red Cross member walks among the debris from damaged buildings following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2020. (Reuters)
A Lebanese Red Cross member walks among the debris from damaged buildings following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon, Aug. 5, 2020. (Reuters)

Lebanese President Michel Aoun announced Friday his rejection of an international investigation into the Beirut port blast, sparking a new round of political disputes in the beleaguered country that has been devastated by the explosion.

He pledged "swift justice", but rejected widespread calls for an international probe, telling a reporter he saw it as an attempt to "dilute the truth".

"There are two possible scenarios for what happened: it was either negligence or foreign interference through a missile or bomb," he said, the first time a top Lebanese official raised the possibility that the port had been attacked.

Aoun also denied that he had discussed an international probe with French President Emmanuel Macron, who had paid a visit to Lebanon on Thursday in wake of the blast. Macron also met with the main political leaders during his trip.

Lebanon is already divided between parties that support an international probe and those who reject it. The first camp includes the Mustaqbal Movement, led by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the Lebanese Forces, led by Samir Geagea, Progressive Socialist Party, led by Walid Jumblatt, and the Kataeb party, led by Sami Gemayel. The other camp includes the Free Patriotic Movement, which was founded by Aoun and now headed by his son-in-law MP Gebran Bassil, and the Hezbollah party.

Sources informed on the talks Macron held with top politicians on Thursday said the officials who were part of what was known as the March 14 alliance all advocated an international probe, explaining that Lebanon does not have an effective state.

Geagea urged Macron to spearhead efforts to launch such a probe, the sources told Asharq Al-Awsat. The Lebanese are banking on France to meet such a demand, he was quoted as saying.
Head of Hezbollah’s Loyalty to the Resistance parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammed Raad, who was also present at the meeting, said the party opposes such a probe because it could be “breached” by Israel.

Speaking to reporters at the Baabda presidential palace, Aoun vowed that justice will prevail in the Beirut blast, saying minor and major officials will appear in court for their role.

On the international investigation, he said: “If we cannot govern ourselves, then no one can. Lebanon’s sovereignty will not be undermined during my term.”

He said attention is being focused on how the explosive ammonium nitrate entered Beirut port and how it was stored there for six years while official warnings over it were ignored.

He did not rule out an attack sparking the blast, revealing that he had requested from Macron aerial footage, if available, of the site to determine whether it was caused by an attack or negligence.

On Macron’s call for the formation of a national unity government in Lebanon, Aoun said: “The necessary conditions for this must be available. We cannot call for such a cabinet and reach the same division and stalemate witnessed by such governments.”

The president’s remarks are signs of imminent political disputes that will aggravate the already tense situation in the country, said political sources.

A Lebanese Forces source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the party supports an international investigation because it does not trust any local probe. “How can local forces that are responsible for storing and neglecting the dangerous material also carry out the probe? Will they indict themselves?”

“The truth cannot be uncovered due to the rampant corruption in Lebanon and therefore, the truth cannot be reached by the Lebanese authorities,” it continued. “A serious and transparent probe can only take place through international sides.”



Sistani Calls for Limiting Possession of Weapons to the Iraqi State

This handout picture released by the media office of Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani shows him (L) during a meeting with the new representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission to the country (UNAMI), Mohamed al-Hassan of Oman (C), in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Sistani's Media Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the media office of Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani shows him (L) during a meeting with the new representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission to the country (UNAMI), Mohamed al-Hassan of Oman (C), in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Sistani's Media Office / AFP)
TT

Sistani Calls for Limiting Possession of Weapons to the Iraqi State

This handout picture released by the media office of Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani shows him (L) during a meeting with the new representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission to the country (UNAMI), Mohamed al-Hassan of Oman (C), in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Sistani's Media Office / AFP)
This handout picture released by the media office of Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani shows him (L) during a meeting with the new representative of the United Nations secretary general for Iraq and head of the UN Assistance Mission to the country (UNAMI), Mohamed al-Hassan of Oman (C), in the central Iraqi city of Najaf on November 4, 2024. (Photo by Sistani's Media Office / AFP)

Iraq's top Shiite authority Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani announced seven factors that would achieve Iraq’s stability.

He made his remarks shortly after Israeli television reported that he was among a list of assassination targets alongside leader of the Houthis in Yemen Abdulmalek al-Houthi, Lebanon’s Hezbollah Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem, commander of Iran’s Quds Forces Esmail Qaani and Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Sistani received on Monday new representative of the United Nations secretary-general and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) Dr. Mohamed al-Hassan of Oman.

A statement from Sistani’s office called on Iraqis to “derive lessons from the past and to work tirelessly to overcome setbacks and work on building a better future where everyone can live in security, stability and prosperity.”

Sistani has since 2015 been refusing to meet with Iraqi officials in protest over rampant corruption in the country and over how his recommendations have been ignored.

Overcoming corruption demands drafting a practical plan to run the country that relies on competency and integrity and that prevents foreign meddling in Iraq, he added.

It also called for imposing the rule of law and limiting the possession of weapons to the state, he stressed.

“The Iraqis have a long path ahead of them,” he said.

The Iraqi government had protested against the Israeli assassination target list, specifically Sistani’s inclusion in it, calling on the international community to condemn attempts to attack figures who enjoy influence and international respect.

Sistani also said he was “deeply pained by the ongoing tragedies in Lebanon and Gaza,” noting that it was “deeply unfortunate” that the international community and its institutions “have been incapable of imposing effective solutions” to end them or at least protect civilians from Israel’s assaults.

For his part, al-Hassan said he reached an agreement with Sistani to bolster Iraq’s regional and international standing.