The leader of Hezbollah has strongly denied that his militant political group had stored arms at Beirut’s port, describing the cataclysmic explosion there as ‘a major tragedy’.
‘We have nothing in the port: not an arms depot, nor a missile depot nor missiles nor rifles nor bombs nor bullets nor (ammonium) nitrate,’ Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech three days after the blast in the Lebanese capital that killed more than 150 people.
He called the explosion a ‘major tragedy and humanitarian catastrophe,’ saying it required a kind of response that would match its ‘exceptional’ scale.
His retort comes amid claims that the 2,750 tonnes of explosive ammonium nitrate which caused the disaster may have been diverted to Lebanon on purpose, having been officially destined for Mozambique.
The horrific blast on Tuesday injured at least 5,000 people and devastated entire districts of the capital, leaving some 300,000 people temporarily homeless. An investigation by authorities has so far led to 21 arrests, as well as travel bans and asset freezes.
Authorities had said a fire at the port had ignited tonnes of ammonium nitrate which had been stored there for years, but President Michel Aoun said today it could have been caused by an attack.
Aoun rejected calls for an international probe while Nasrallah urged ‘the army to investigate and announce its findings’.
He said the Lebanese military is in a prime position to do so because it is seen as a ‘trusted’ institution by people and politicians across the spectrum.
The Hezbollah leader warned against delays in the probe, saying: ‘If the Lebanese state and the political class… do not reach a conclusion in the investigations this means… there is no hope to build a state.’
But questions have been raised President Aoun and others as to reason why tonnes of dangerous chemicals ended up being kept in the port for six years without proper safeguards in place.
Ammonium nitrate parcels stored in Beirut’s ill-fated Warehouse 12 just day before the accident which has killed at least 154 people and sparked fury at the corruption and incompetence of Lebanon’s elite
Pictures shared by Lebanese journalist Dima Sadek show the ‘death bags’ containing high-density ammonium nitrate piled up in Beirut’s ill-fated Warehouse 12 shortly before the explosion
The shipment of ammonium nitrate was officially destined for Mozambique when it sailed on the cargo ship Rhosus in 2013, but the vessel made an unscheduled stop in Beirut where the chemicals were impounded
The leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, has strongly denied that his militant political group had stored arms at Beirut’s port, describing the cataclysmic explosion there as ‘a major tragedy’
Wreckage lies in front of destroyed grain silos in the port of Beirut today, three days after the devastating explosion in the Lebanese capital
Russian emergency personnel walk on the site of the explosion in the port of Beirut, where rescuers are continuing their recovery efforts three days after the blast
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