It is the third time that Bitar has had to suspend his probe in the face of lawsuits filed by former ministers suspected of negligence over the August 2020 explosion.
The total number of lawsuits filed against Bitar now stands at 15, according to judicial sources.
Similar temporary suspensions have plagued the course of the probe over the past weeks but previous cases to remove the judge have been turned down.
But in a sign that the suspension may be prolonged, the court asked Bitar to hand over the details of the case to enable it to review the lawsuit, according to a copy of the decision seen by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
The latest comes amid a campaign led by Hizbullah
...
Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as
The Resistanceand purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
demanding Bitar's replacement over allegations of "bias" that have been widely dismissed by rights groups and families of blast victims.
Hizbullah's representatives in government have said they will boycott Cabinet meetings until it takes a clear stand on demands to replace Bitar.
The Cabinet, as a result, has failed to hold a single session in three weeks.
Prime Minister Najib Miqati on Thursday condemned attempts to force his government to intervene in judicial affairs, in a thinly veiled criticism of Hizbullah.
"We have tried as much as possible to keep the Beirut blast probe under the purview of the judiciary and we have rejected any kind of (political) interference," Miqati told a news conference.
Human rights groups and victims' relatives fear the repeated suspensions are a prelude to Bitar's removal, which would further derail the official inquiry into
...Formerly inhabited by hardy Phoenecian traders, its official language is now Arabic, with the usual unpleasant side effects. ...'s worst peace-time tragedy.
Bitar's predecessor, Fadi Sawwan, was forced to suspend his probe for the same reason before he was finally removed in February, in a move widely condemned as political interference.