a day ago
Ghassan Salameh receives families of Aug. 4 victims
BEIRUT — Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh on Monday received a delegation of families of victims of the Beirut port explosion at his office in the National Library.
They were joined by members of the awareness campaign "Al-Chahed al-Samet" (the silent witness), a representative from the indictments chamber, engineers, and heritage preservation groups. Advisory architect Jad Tabet was also in attendance.
The families of the Aug. 4 victims plan to hold a press conference Wednesday at noon at the Press Club in the Palm Center building, to announce and invite people to the commemorative and protest march on Aug. 4.
The meeting with the culture minister focused on the consequences of the port tragedy, the right of the victims' families to know the truth and see those responsible for this crime brought to justice. The delegation reiterated its demand that the Beirut port grain silos be dedicated as a memorial, as witnesses to the catastrophe, independently of upcoming judicial decisions.
Minister Salameh, for his part, emphasized that he has been following this issue for some time with all concerned parties, conducting numerous consultations with specialists and cultural heritage experts, in order to study reports on the status of the silos.
He expressed hope that a desirable decision would be reached before next Aug. 4, the fifth anniversary of the explosion.
The Beirut port tragedy, which claimed the lives of nearly 250 people and destroyed a significant part of the capital on Aug. 4, 2020, will be commemorated next month. Those responsible for the explosion, which was worsened by a large quantity of ammonium nitrate stored at the port, have yet to stand trial.
The latest development: former prosecutor general of the Court of Cassation, Judge Ghassan Oueidate, did not appear Monday at a scheduled interrogation session before investigating Judge Tarek Bitar of the Court of Justice, who had summoned him as part of his investigation.
