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Port hazards, protest for Lokman Slim, Sawwan restarts investigation: Everything you need to know to start your day

Here’s what happened yesterday and what to expect today, Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Port hazards, protest for Lokman Slim, Sawwan restarts investigation: Everything you need to know to start your day

Cleanup, rebuilding and administering justice have all moved slowly in the six months since the Beirut port explosion. (Credit: João Sousa/L’Orient Today)

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The company contracted to dispose of hazardous and flammable materials at Beirut port has finished its work, the president’s office announced. Lebanon had signed a contract with German company Combi Lift in November to dispose of the materials; on Saturday, German Ambassador Andreas Kindl announced that the company had finished treating 52 containers of “hazardous and dangerous chemical material” found at the port. Kindl wrote on Twitter that the materials “had been accumulated over decades and were a threat to the people in Beirut.” The managing director of Combi Lift was more blunt, telling German TV station n-tv, “What we found here was a second Beirut bomb.” The containers will now be shipped to Germany for disposal. In the meeting with Michel Aoun in which he reported on the completion of the work, Kindl also reportedly asked the president to intervene to make sure the company is paid the money it is owed.

The German ambassador also called on the president to ensure the safety of murdered activist Lokman Slim’s widow, who is a German citizen, and his other family members. Meanwhile, the US Embassy wrote on Twitter that Ambassador Dorothy Shea had met with caretaker Justice Minister Marie-Claude Najm to discuss the investigation into Slim’s killing and the “importance of holding the perpetrators accountable … without delay or exception.” Slim’s family, for its part, issued a statement denying reports that they had been refusing to cooperate with local authorities investigating the case; while some family members have called for an international investigation, the statement said they have been cooperating with the local investigation. A protest against Slim’s killing is planned for 3 p.m. today at Samir Kassir Square in downtown Beirut.

The judge tasked with the investigation into the port blast announced plans to restart hearings in the case. Among the witnesses Judge Fadi Sawwan has summoned is former army chief Jean Kahwagi, who is set to be questioned Thursday, a judicial source told L’Orient Today. The National News Agency reported that Sawwan had also set dates for questioning of a number of other witnesses and defendants this week and next week. Movement on the investigation had been halted, first by a motion by former ministers Ali Hassan Khalil and Ghazi Zeaiter, who had been summoned for questioning, to remove Sawwan from the case, and then by the COVID-19 lockdown.

Riad Salameh’s lawyer presented a formal challenge to a local case brought against the central bank governor, the NNA reported. Salameh, who faces charges in relation to the alleged misuse of millions of dollars provided by the central bank to fund imports, had been scheduled to appear before Judge Nicolas Mansour Monday. Separately, Swiss authorities are probing bank transfers by Salameh as part of an investigation into potential money laundering.

Judge Charbel Bou Samra issued an arrest warrant for Ibrahim Ghazal, husband and accused murderer of model Zeina Kanjo. Ghazal has reportedly fled to Turkey and has appeared remotely on talk shows on Lebanese TV stations MTV and Al Jadeed to defend himself, to the indignation of many viewers who said the stations should not have given him a platform. During those appearances, Ghazal maintained he had not intended to kill Kanjo but had suffocated her accidentally while trying to silence her during an argument. Kanjo, who had previously filed domestic violence complaints, was found dead in Ghazal's apartment.

Today Lebanon takes an official holiday in observance of the feast day of Mar Maroun, the 4th century monk and founder of the Maronite Church. Public institutions and banks will be closed.

Want to get the Morning Brief by email? Click here to sign up.The company contracted to dispose of hazardous and flammable materials at Beirut port has finished its work, the president’s office announced. Lebanon had signed a contract with German company Combi Lift in November to dispose of the materials; on Saturday, German Ambassador Andreas Kindl announced that the company had finished...