Lebanese protest as fate of blast probe unclear

STORY: Judge Tarek Bitar announced on Monday (January 23) he was resuming his investigation into the blast that killed more than 220 people, after a 13-month suspension caused by legal wrangling and high-level political pressure.

But Lebanon's top public prosecutor Ghassan Oweidat objected, filed charges against Bitar for allegedly mishandling the inquiry, and released the remaining 17 detainees still held over the investigation.

The explosion, one of the largest non-nuclear blasts on record, was caused by hundreds of tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been unloaded at the port in 2013.

Families of those killed in the blast, members of parliament and other Lebanese flocked to Lebanon's justice palace on Thursday to demand Bitar be allowed to carry on.

Some protesters tried to break in, but the doors were sealed and heavily guarded. Inside, Oweidat's office was blocked off by a cluster of police with shields and helmets.