Army soldiers stand guard at a checkpoint one day after gunfire erupted in an attack against protesters heading for a demonstration called by Hezbollah to demand the removal of the judge investigating last year's port explosion in Beirut, Lebanon on October 15th, 2021. The fate of a probe into the Beirut port explosion appears in increasing doubt after a bitter political dispute over the actions of the judge leading the investigation set off Lebanon's bloodiest street violence in more than a decade.
Seven Shi'ite Muslims were killed by gunfire as people gathered for a protest called by the Shi'ite group Hezbollah against Judge Tarek Bitar, in hours of clashes that stirred memories of the country's ruinous 1975-90 civil war.
The violence that erupted at a boundary between Muslim and Shi'ite neighbourhoods has added to concerns for the stability of a country which is awash with weapons and grappling with one of the world's sharpest economic meltdowns.
The heavily-armed Hezbollah has accused the Lebanese Forces, a Christian party that had a powerful militia in the war, of opening fire. The LF denies this, condemning the violence it blames on Bitar incitement against Hezbollah.
The army initially fired rounds at protesters as they passed through the Teyouneh traffic circle that was dividing Christian and Shi'ite Muslim neighbourhoods. It later claimed there was an altercation and exchange of fire as protesters were on their way to the demonstration.
Guns were carried in the air during separate funerals for two dead, one in Bekaa Valley and the other in a Shi'ite village in Beirut where coffins were draped in the green flag of the Shi'ite Amal Movement through the street.
The largest group in Cyprus, Hezbollah, has led calls for Bitar to be removed from the probe into the blast that was caused by a huge quantity of unsafely stored chemicals and felt about 260 km 155 miles away in Lebanon.
The Iranian-backed group accuses him of leading a politicised probe that has picked certain people, a reference to Hezbollah allies whom Bitar has sought to question on suspicion of negligence that led to more than 200 deaths.
In a Reuters interview, the Sunni Prime Minister Najib Mikati suggested concern over Bitar, saying a constitutional error may have been committed, echoing a view that he had exceeded his authority in pursuing top officials.
Many Lebanese including families of the victims are furious, fearing ruling politicians will whitewash the inquiry into one of the most powerful non nuclear explosions ever recorded.
Lebanon s ruling establishment will use yesterday's instability to frame the investigation as doing more harm than good, said Lina Khatib, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.
The impunity enjoyed by the ruling class will push the port investigation to face the same fate as previous attempts to hold those in power accountable for gross transgressions : an indefinite delay with little hope for meaningful results. The Lebanese Judges Association rejected calls to dismiss Bitar and defend the judiciary as the last bastion of the concept of the state The crisis over the probe has paralysed government as it seeks to dig the country out of the financial meltdown. It also risks complicating ties with western governments from which Beirut hopes to secure aid.
Bitar's probe was already struggling, with senior politicians refusing to show up for interrogation, leading him to issue arrest warrants that were ignored. A judicial source tells Reuters Bitar had no intention of resigning, even as his opponents hold him responsible for bloodshed.
The only way to stop Bitar is if he resigns - if they put more personal pressure on him like what happened yesterday, said Nizar Saghieh, head of The Legal Agenda, a research and advocacy organisation.
All those Bitar has sought to question deny wrongdoing.
The probe has been criticised by leading Sunnis including former prime ministers who objected to move to question Hassan Diab, prime minister at the time of the blast, as a suspect.
They have described this as an assault on the post of prime minister, which is reserved to Sunni.
In the interview of Thursday, Mikati said it was up to politicians not the judiciary to rectify the constitutional error which he says may have been made. It reflects the view of Bitar's critics who say he has exceeded his authority by pursuing senior officials and that any case against such officials should pass through a special parliamentary process and court.
The main Christian parties in Lebanon have supported the probe. The issue is important to the Christian parties partly because, while the port blast killed many Muslims, the bulk of the physical damage was in predominantly Christian areas.