Ghazi Zaiter

Ghazi Zaiter
Minister of Public Works and Transportation
In office
2014–2020
Personal details
Born1949 (age 76–77)
Qasr, Lebanon
PartyAmal Movement
ChildrenLama, Mohammed, and Ziad

Ghazi Zaiter (Arabic: غازي زعيتر; born 1949 in Qasr, Lebanon) is a Lebanese member of parliament representing the Baalbeck-Hermel district. Born to a Shia family, he was Minister of Defense from 1998 to 2000.[1] He also served as Minister of Agriculture, Public Works, Industry and Social Affairs.[2][3] He is part of the Amal Movement led by Nabih Berri which is part of the opposition after the 2009 election.[4]

Beirut explosion scrutiny

During the 2020 Beirut explosion, Ghazi Zaiter was Minister of Public Works and Transportation at the time and has been under scrutiny since. He had been responsible for dealing with the ship carrying 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that docked on Beirut's Port in 2013.[5] Investigations revealed that Zaiter was among the officials who failed to act on repeated warnings about the dangers posed by the ammonium nitrate. In December 2020, he was charged with negligence leading to the blast. However, he and fellow Amal MP Ali Hassan Khalil invoked parliamentary immunity to avoid prosecution and declined to appear for questioning.[6][7][8]

In addition, breakthroughs from Al Jadeed's interview with the ship's captain, Boris Prokoshev, have brought to light that the crew's lawyer who helped them abandon the ship in Beirut had been Mohammed Zaiter, Ghazi Zaiter's son.[9] With the explosion of the ship's content in 2020, many have viewed Zaiter's inaction towards the ship as incriminating.[10]

On 2 June 2025 it was reported that he will be summons by judge Tarek Bitar for questioning. Zaiter will be interrogated as a defendant [11]

In 2026, Zeiter and Khalil were charged with obstruction of justice on the Beirut Blast case, and were obliged to pay 110 Billion Lebanese Lira.[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ الوزراء المتعاقبون على وزارة الدفاع الوطني [Successive ministers of the Ministry of National Defense]. Government of Lebanon (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  2. ^ Harman, Danna; Lahoud, Lamia (2 April 2000). "Beirut may ask for Syrian troops in south Lebanon". Jerusalem Post.
  3. ^ Halawi, Dana (24 October 2009). "Zaiter urges Arab states to increase drug production". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 30 December 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  4. ^ "Lebanon Election Results" (PDF). International Foundation for Electoral Systems. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2010.
  5. ^ "Ship that delivered explosive material to Beirut port was never supposed to stop there, says captain". CBC News. Thomson Reuters. 7 August 2020. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
  6. ^ Chulov, Martin (10 December 2020). "Lebanon's caretaker PM and ex-ministers charged over Beirut blast". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  7. ^ Azhari, Timour (17 May 2022). "MPs charged over Beirut blast re-elected, troubling families of victims". Reuters. Archived from the original on 30 October 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  8. ^ Harb, Imad K. (14 October 2021). "Lebanon Courts Civil War, Again". Arab Center Washington DC. Archived from the original on 23 July 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  9. ^ قبطان سفينة روسوس التي نقلت نترات الأمونيا الى مرفأ بيروت يروي لـ الجديد مسار الرحلة وماذا حصل [The captain of the ship Rhosus—which transported ammonium nitrate to the Port of Beirut—recounts to Al Jadeed the details of the voyage and what transpired]. AL Jadeed News. 9 August 2020. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 14 March 2026 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Kamal, Mia (17 May 2022). "Beirut Blast Suspect, Ghazi Zaiter, Was Just Reelected". The 961. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Beirut Port blast judge summons MP Ghazi Zaiter for questioning on June 13". Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International. Archived from the original on 3 June 2025. Retrieved 3 June 2025.
  12. ^ "Court fines Khalil and Zoaiter for obstructing port blast probe". Naharnet. 21 January 2026. Archived from the original on 21 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  13. ^ القاضي البيطار يسجّل هدفاً في مرمى خليل وزعيتر. AL Jadeed News. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026 – via YouTube.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.