Berri Says Parliament Ready to Lift Immunity for Beirut Blast Probe

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads a legislative session at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Lebanon January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads a legislative session at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Lebanon January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
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Berri Says Parliament Ready to Lift Immunity for Beirut Blast Probe

Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads a legislative session at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Lebanon January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri heads a legislative session at UNESCO Palace in Beirut, Lebanon January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

Speaker Nabih Berri said on Thursday the Lebanese legislature was ready to lift the immunity of its members in order allow for questioning over last year's massive port explosion in the capital Beirut.

The August 4 blast killed over 200 people, injured thousands and destroyed large parts of the city. Nearly a year later, however, no top officials have been questioned over the disaster, angering many Lebanese.

"The priority of parliament was and will continue to be complete cooperation with the judiciary," Berri said in a statement after a meeting with Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement.

Hariri had called for lawmakers' immunity to be lifted earlier this week by suspending all constitutional and legal regulations that allow for it.

Berri did not say when immunity would be lifted or how.

A probe into the port blast led by judge Tarek Bitar has been hindered over the past month as requests sent to parliament and the government to lift immunity and enable questioning of several top officials were either declined or stalled.

Major questions remain unanswered, including why a large shipment of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive chemical used in bombs and fertilizer, was left stored in the middle of a crowded city for years after being unloaded in 2013.



Syrian Wildfires Spread Due to Heavy Winds and War Remnants

 A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
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Syrian Wildfires Spread Due to Heavy Winds and War Remnants

 A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)
A Turkish helicopter drops water on the flames as it helps fight a wildfire near the town of Rabia, in Syria's Latakia countryside, early Monday, July 7, 2025. (AP)

Syrian firefighters are facing heavy winds, high temperatures and ordnance left behind from the 13-year civil war as they try to extinguish some of country's worst wildfires in years, a government minister said Monday.

The fires, which started last week, have proven difficult to bring under control despite reinforcements from Jordan, Türkiye and Lebanon that came to the war-torn country to help Syrian teams fight the blaze.

Syrian Minister of Emergency and Disaster Management Raed al-Saleh said their main challenges are two locations in the coastal province of Latakia that they have been trying to control for two days.

“We have controlled other locations,” al-Saleh told The Associated Press at the scene.

On the second day of the fire, firefighters managed to get 90% of the wildfires under control but explosions of left-over war ordnance and heavy winds helped spread the fires again, al-Saleh said. He added that 120 teams are fighting the blazes.

On Monday, the Lebanese army said it sent two helicopters to help fight the fires in coordination with Syrian authorities.

Over the weekend, UN teams deployed to the Syrian coast where they are conducting urgent assessments to determine the scale of the damage and to identify the most immediate humanitarian needs.

Summer fires are common in the eastern Mediterranean region, where experts warn that climate change is intensifying conditions that then lead to blazes.

Also, below-average rainfall over the winter left Syrians struggling with water shortages this summer, as the springs and rivers that normally supply much of the population with drinking water have gone dry.