Beirut blast investigation stand-off roils Lebanese cabinet

FILE PHOTO: Lebanon's Finance Minister Youssef Khalil is pictured at the Ministry of Finance in Beirut, Lebanon October 1, 2021. . REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir/File Photo

BEIRUT (Reuters) -A standoff between the judge investigating the disastrous Beirut port blast and top politicians he seeks to question roiled Lebanon's cabinet on Tuesday after the inquiry was suspended on Tuesday for the second time in less than three weeks.

The investigation has faced obstacles since judge Tarek Bitar sought to query some of Lebanon's most powerful people on suspicion they were aware of the stored chemicals involved in the Aug. 4, 2020 explosion but did nothing to avert it.