Blast chemicals linked to Syrian businessmen under US sanctions
WAS AMMONIUM NITRATE DESTINED FOR SYRIA? VICTIMS’ LAWYER SEEKS PROBE
The company that bought the ammonium nitrate which exploded in Beirut last August had possible links to two Syrian businessmen under US sanctions for ties to President Bashar Al Assad, according to a report by a Lebanese journalist and London company filings.
Savaro Ltd, the trading firm which procured the chemicals in 2013, shared a London address with companies linked to George Haswani and Emad Khoury, according to the report by documentary film-maker Firas Hatoum, which aired on Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV station this week.
Haswani, Khoury and his brother Mudalal Khoury have all been sanctioned by Washington for supporting Al Assad’s war effort. All three are joint SyrianRussian nationals, according to the US sanctions list and a database that gathers data from official Russian institutions.
The US Treasury accused Mudalal Khoury in 2015 of “an attempted procurement of ammonium nitrate in late 2013”. It sanctioned his brother Emad a year later for engaging in business activities with Mudalal. Haswani was sanctioned in 2015 on charges of helping Al Assad’s government to buy oil from Daesh terrorists, which he has denied.
In reviewing filings with Companies House, the UK’s companies registry, Reuters found that Savaro and Hesco Engineering and Construction Company Ltd, a firm subject to US sanctions for its links to Haswani, both moved their corporate registers — official company records — to the same London address on June 25, 2011.
Emad Khoury denied links to Savaro. “There is a registrar in London, many companies are registered by it, not just mine,” he told Reuters. “I don’t know this Savaro.”
The findings about the possible links between Savaro and the Syrian businessmen have raised questions among some in Beirut over whether the ammonium nitrate, which is used for fertiliser but also explosives, may have been destined for Syria. “We want this to be investigated,” Youssef Lahoud, a lawyer who represents around 1,400 victims of the blast, told Reuters. “It may lead us nowhere or it may be the thread that unravels but we must follow up.”