Lebanon's top Christian cleric says judge probing port blast must be allowed to pursue truth

A general view shows the site of the 2020 port blast, in Beirut, Lebanon January 24, 2023. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir

AMMAN (Reuters) - Lebanon's top Christian cleric called on Sunday for the judge struggling to investigate the Beirut port explosion to be able to pursue his work and get help from any outside authority to pinpoint those responsible for the devastating blast.

Long-simmering tensions over the investigation have boiled over since Judge Tarek Bitar brought charges against some of the most influential people in Lebanon, defying political pressure to scrap the inquiry into the disaster that killed 220 people.