Lebanon has sent judicial requests to several countries asking them to provide satellite images of the Port of Beirut.
Judge Tarek Bitar, the lead investigating judge in the Beirut Port blast case, issued 13 requests to countries that own satellites, in an attempt to obtain images that would help the investigation into the explosion, the National News Agency reported on Tuesday.
Judge Bitar issued the requests as he prepared to question new witnesses that have not testified in relation to the case since the investigation was launched last year.
The Beirut Blast probe has been ongoing for nearly 9 months without reaching any outcome regarding the circumstances of the deadly incident or the people responsible for it.
Following the August 4 explosion, Lebanon requested satellite images from France and Italy. In December, the then-lead-investigator, Judge Fadi Sawan, was informed by the French authorities that the required satellite imagery was unavailable.
Judge Bitar, who took over the case in February, promised the families of the blast victims that he would not stop at political immunities in his work on the case.
In the latest development in the probe, Judge Bitar ordered, in mid-April, the release of 6 detainees who had been held in connection to the explosion.
