Lebanon rejects global probe
President: Missile or negligence may have caused blast
BEIRUT: Lebanon’s president has rejected any international probe into the catastrophic Beirut port blast, saying a missile or negligence could have been responsible as rescuers desperately combed the rubble for survivors.
The entrenched ruling class has come under fire once again since Tuesday’s explosion, which killed at least 154 people and devastated swathes of the capital.
The revelation that a huge shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate had languished for years in a warehouse in the heart of the capital served as shocking proof to many Lebanese of the rot at the core of their political system.
Even Lebanese President Michel Aoun admitted on Friday that the “paralysed” system needed to be “reconsidered”.
He pledged “swift justice” but rejected widespread calls for an international probe, telling a reporter that he saw it as an attempt to “dilute the truth”.
“There are two possible scenarios for what happened: it was either negligence or foreign interference through a missile or bomb,” he said, the first time a top Lebanese official raised the possibility that the port had been attacked.
What ignited the massive shipment of the chemical remains unclear – officials have said work had recently begun on repairs to the warehouse, while others suspected fireworks stored either in the same place or nearby.
Near the site of the explosion, by the carcass of the port’s giant grain silos, rescue teams from France, Russia, Germany, Italy and other countries coordinated their search efforts.
More than 60 people are still missing four days after a massive explosion at the port left more than 150 people dead, a health ministry official said yesterday.
“The number of dead is 154, including 25 who have not yet been identified,” the official said.
The World Food Programme has promised food for affected families and wheat imports to replace lost stocks from the silos, and US President Donald Trump said he would join other leaders in a conference call today to discuss coordinating international aid.
Four bodies were uncovered near the port’s control room on Friday, where a significant number of people were expected to have been working at the time of the blast. No one has been found alive. On Friday, relief flights from Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates landed in Lebanon, following others from France, Kuwait, Qatar and Russia.
International police agency Interpol has said it will send a team of experts who are specialised in identifying victims.
The World Health Organisation, called for US$15mil (RM62mil) to cover immediate health needs.
Lebanon’s probe has so far led to 21 arrests, including the port’s general manager Hassan Koraytem, other customs officials and port engineers, a judicial source said.
Dozens more were being interrogated by Lebanon’s military court, which is focusing on administrative and security officials at the port as well as government authorities who may have ignored warnings about explosive materials.