Hoax Bomb Threat Causes Panic at Justice Ministry, Judges Threatened

The Justice Ministry building in Beirut was partially evacuated on Tuesday after a bomb threat that turned out to be a hoax, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The Internal Security Forces searched the building using sniffer dogs but found no bomb. The threat caused panic, however.

The ministry’s director-general, Omar al-Natour, said the building wasn’t evacuated. “Some staff left and we didn’t stop them,” he told NNA.

Al-Natour said that the caller threatened the ministry to “evacuate the building or else.”

During the panic caused by the phone threat, Mohammed Nayef escaped from police custody as he was being taken from the ministry’s detention center to the Justice Palace’s criminal court, NNA said.

Police is now searching for the escapee and investigation is underway to know how he ran away.

Meanwhile, General Prosecutor Saeed Mirza confirmed a report by MTV that ten judges received threats on their mobile phones on Monday. This is the third time that such threats are made from the same number, he said.

Earlier in the month, media reports said that several judges received threats through text messages sent from the same number.