Nassar follows up on Grechushkin's extradition with Bulgarian ambassador

Justice Minister Adel Nassar on Thursday met with Bulgarian Ambassador to Lebanon Iassen Tomov and discussed with him the judicial and diplomatic measures related to the extradition of the owner of the Rhosus ship from Bulgaria to Lebanon.

Nassar lauded Bulgaria’s “cooperation and coordination in this regard” and agreed with Tomov on continued communication to hand over the detainee as soon as possible, knowing that there is an extradition treaty between Bulgaria and Lebanon.”

The shipowner, Igor Grechushkin, is wanted over the 2020 blast at Beirut port that killed more than 220 people and wounded more than 6,500 others. The August 4, 2020 disaster was one of the world's largest non-nuclear explosions, ravaging swathes of the Lebanese capital.

Authorities have said the blast was triggered by a fire in a warehouse where tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer had been stored haphazardly for years after arriving by Grechushkin’s ship, despite repeated warnings to senior officials.

Lebanese authorities identified Grechushkin, a 48-year-old Russian-Cypriot citizen, as the owner of the Rhosus. Interpol issued red notices for him and two others in 2021.

Grechushkin "has been placed in detention for a maximum duration of 40 days by a court decision on September 7, confirmed on appeal," a Sofia city court spokeswoman told AFP.

Lebanese judicial officials meanwhile told The Associated Press that papers were being prepared requesting the transfer of Grechushkin to Lebanon for questioning. They said that if Grechushkin is not handed over, Lebanese investigators could travel to Bulgaria to question him there.

The authorities requesting extradition have 40 days to send the necessary documents to effect such a move, according to Bulgarian law.

Grechushkin was held on an Interpol red notice at Sofia airport on September 5 upon his arrival from Paphos in Cyprus, a Bulgarian judicial source confirmed to AFP.

He informed the officers that he came to Bulgaria "for tourism."

The Rhosus, a Moldovan-flagged cargo ship sailing from Georgia and bound for Mozambique, is widely understood to have brought the fertilizer to Beirut in 2013.

After it arrived in Lebanon, the Rhosus faced "technical problems," and security officials said it was impounded after a Lebanese company filed a lawsuit against its owner.

Port authorities unloaded the ammonium nitrate and stored it in a run-down port warehouse with cracks in its walls, according to officials.

The ship later sank in Beirut port in 2018.

The Lebanese investigation into the blast has been mired in legal and political wrangling.

Judge Tarek Bitar resumed his investigation into the blast this year as Lebanon's balance of power shifted.

This followed a war between Israel and Hezbollah that weakened the Iran-backed group, which had spearheaded a campaign for Bitar's resignation.

Those questioned in the investigation include former Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, as well as military and security officials.