Lebanonupdated 39m ago3 min read
Adel Nassar Seeks Judicial Council Referral Over Hezbollah Explosives Shipment
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Hezbollah-owned explosives were seized at Dahr al-Baidar; group demands their return. Justice Minister Adel Nassar seeks Judicial Council referral; investigation expanding on national security grounds.
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The Jerusalem Post“The Lebanese government should reject that demand.”
“demanded the immediate release of the detainees and the return of the vehicle and its contents.”
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Referral to Judicial Council
Lebanon’s Justice Minister Adel Nassar said he would pursue an investigation into a shipment of Hezbollah explosives to the end and press for the case to be referred to the Judicial Council on national security grounds. Nassar told Asharq Al-Awsat that “There are no limits to the investigation,” and he said the probe was expanding as he insisted political pressure would not interfere with the judiciary’s work. Nassar said the referral would proceed separately from the ongoing investigation, and he said he had “full confidence in the Prosecutor General at the Court of Cassation Judge Ahmad Rami al-Hajj” and in Government Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Claude Ghanem.
Nassar said the proposed referral would establish two parallel tracks, with the ongoing judicial investigation continuing while a separate judicial-administrative process would require cabinet approval to transfer the case to the Judicial Council. Nassar warned that the shipment posed serious risks because transporting and storing large quantities of explosives threatened areas they passed through and endangered residents where they were stored, and he said investigators had yet to establish their intended purpose.
Cabinet session and divisions
Nassar said he raised the issue at the previous cabinet meeting at the Grand Serail, winning support from ministers affiliated with the Lebanese Forces, and he later filed a request with the cabinet’s General Secretariat to place the referral on the agenda of Thursday’s meeting at the presidential palace chaired by President Joseph Aoun. Nassar told Asharq Al-Awsat that “We are open to discussion in the cabinet, in accordance with constitutional rules, until the government reaches its decision,” and he said the constitution governed cabinet deliberations. The Beirut-based correspondent for Al-Arabi TV, Lara al-Hashim, said the explosives file was on the agenda of the Council of Ministers session scheduled for tomorrow in Baabda, chaired by Joseph Aoun, and that it included referring the explosives seized in Dahr al-Beidar after they were shown to belong to Hezbollah.
Al-Arabi TV’s correspondent said Hezbollah has legal reservations about the referral and that sources familiar with its position warned that pushing in this direction threatens internal stability in Lebanon. Nassar said the investigation concerns the seizure, transportation and storage of explosives and determining their intended use, and he said the judiciary would pursue the investigation to the end in accordance with established procedures.
Seizure, warrants, and stakes
Lebanese authorities seized a vehicle loaded with explosives at the حاجز ضهر البيدر on the road linking the Beqaa region and the capital Beirut, and the file later centered on a shipment that Hezbollah admitted owning. The القدس العربي reported that on 5 أكتوبر الجاري interior security forces seized a vehicle loaded with explosives at the حاجز ضهر البيدر and stopped two people aboard, and it said Lebanese media reported the shipment contained between 500 and 800 kilograms of explosive materials including TNT and C-4, plus metal balls and nails. The Times of Israel said a Lebanese judge ordered two Hezbollah officials to appear for questioning over their alleged involvement in a delivery of explosives seized by authorities, after security agencies worked to locate them and take them into custody.
The Times of Israel quoted a judicial official as saying the judge ordered the officials to appear “after initial investigations… established their identities,” and it said Hezbollah lawmaker Hassan Fadlallah had acknowledged the explosives belonged to the terror group and demanded the shipment be returned. Nassar said the cabinet has been clear in decisions prohibiting military and armed activities outside the framework of the state, and he said both domestic attacks and military operations could threaten national and state security and violate applicable laws.