Lebanon’s Abbas Ibrahim heads to London

Lebanon’s spy chief Major General Abbas Ibrahim left for London on Sunday reportedly after he was invited there by his British counterpart

This development comes after Major General Ibrahim emerged as one of the suspects in the Beirut port blast

According to Lebanese media reports Interior minister Mohammad Fahmi has agreed to allow Judge Tariq Bitar to question Ibrahim over the blast . According to media reports Ibrahim earned millions of dollars from the sale of the chemicals that were stored at the port . A 3.5 million Dollar account was one of the accounts reported by UAE .

Ibrahim was the first official to reveal that the explosion at the port was that of the ammonium nitrate shipment and not fireworks as some claimed

The presence of the IAE accounts was denied by Ibrahim according to media reports

The 61-year-old head of Lebanon’s top intelligence agency has become an increasingly visible pointman on thorny dossiers and was widely expected before Bitar’s announcement to further step out of the shadow in the future.

Critics argue that Ibrahim owes his clout to the support he has from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group

Ibrahim forged a strong and trusting relationship with the powerful Shiite group when he was army intelligence chief for the south of the country.

Over a decade as Lebanon’s spymaster, he has deftly walked that tightrope and built a growing reputation as a regional troubleshooter.

Ibrahim, whose current tenure runs out in 2022, is often tipped as the only serious candidate to take over from veteran parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

Ibrahim is unphased by the label some have given him as Hezbollah’s man in Lebanon