Mark Esper: We do not yet know what caused the Beirut explosion
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper spoke with Fox News Judge Jeanine Pirro in an exclusive interview on the administration’s plans to provide humanitarian aid to Lebanon in the aftermath of the Beirut explosion, escalating tensions between the US and China , the decision to withdraw US troops from Germany and how many troops will return from Afghanistan.
A police officer was killed on Saturday when thousands of Protestants stormed Beirut government buildings and called for an uprising after a massive explosion in the port of the Lebanese capital, killing at least 158 people and wounding about 6,000.
On Sunday, French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held an international conference aimed at bringing donors together to provide emergency supplies and equipment to the Lebanese people.
“The goal today is to act quickly and effectively to coordinate our aid on the ground so that it goes as efficiently as possible to the Lebanese people,” Macron said from his home on the French Riviera.
BEIRUT EXPLOSION: US MILITARY Sends 3 CARGO PLANS TO LEBANON FILLED WITH MEDICAL FAN
Molotov cocktails are thrown at Lebanese soldiers by anti-government protesters during a protest against the political elites and the government following this deadly explosion this week at the port of Beirut, which covers large parts of the capital in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday August 8, 2020 devastated. (AP photo / Hassan Ammar)
The first world leader to visit Lebanon within 48 hours of the explosion, Macron also called on world leaders to “work together to ensure that neither violence nor chaos reigns.” He also called on the Lebanese government “to respond to the aspirations that the Lebanese people are currently legitimately expressing in the streets of Beirut,” the BBC reported.
Among other world leaders on the call, President Trump expressed his deepest sympathy to those killed and wounded in the Beirut explosion and reaffirmed that the US is ready and willing to continue to provide support to the people of Lebanon to assist in its recovery.
Trump also urged the Lebanese government to conduct a full and transparent investigation, in which the United States is ready to support, said White House Secretary of State Judd Deere in a teleconference summary delivered to media . Trump called for calm in Lebanon and recognized the legitimate calls of peaceful Protestants for transparency, reform and accountability.
“Everyone wants to help!” Trump tweeted Saturday, announcing the conference call.
The member states of the European Union, China, Russia, Egypt, Jordan, and the United Kingdom participated in the summit, as well as representations of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Red Cross, and the Arab League. The UK pledged £ 20 million ($ 26 million) in “urgent humanitarian aid” during the talks, in addition to the initial £ 5 million ($ 6.5 million) aid package announced last week.
Some 10,000 people came out on Saturday to protest in Martyrs’ Square in Beirut, where crowds of government ministries and the Association of Lebanese Banks died, Reuters reported. Protesters threw stones and firefighters and police blocked the road leading to parliament. Officers deployed dozens of crushed gas blades.
One officer died after falling into the lifeline when a crowd chased him inside a building, Sky News reported. The Lebanese Red Cross said 175 people were treated at the scene amid violent clashes between police and protesters that lasted for hours. Another 63 were transported to nearby hospitals.
The disaster has taken popular anger to a new level in a country already suffering from an unusual economic and financial crisis and near bankruptcy. Thousands were still missing and about 300,000 people are homeless. Activists calling for the protest raised symbolic noses in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to hang politicians whose corruption and negligence they blamed for the explosion.
ESPER TO HELP TO LEBANON FROM DEADLY BEIRUT BLAST: US DIR ‘ALL THAT WE CAN’
The explosion was fueled by thousands of tons of ammonium nitrate that had been improperly stored in the harbor for more than six years. Apparently set by fire, the explosion was by far the largest in Lebanon’s troubled history and caused an estimated $ 10 billion to $ 15 billion in damage, according to the governor of Beirut. It also damaged 6,200 buildings.
The country’s ruling class, made up mostly of former leaders of the previous civil war, is accused of incompetence and mismanagement that contributed to Tuesday’s blast.
“The bloodline of today’s leaders must end. We want the death of old Lebanon and the birth of a new one, “said Tarek, a 23-year-old university student who had prepared a mix of water and painting in a bottle to throw at police. No peaceful protest would bring change, he told the Associated Press.
Protesters walk away from tear gas fired by riot police during a protest rally on Tuesday, in Beirut, Lebanon on August 8, 2020. (Reuters / Hannah McKay)
“Message or hang,” read a banner held by Protestants, who also planned to hold a symbolic funeral for the dead. Some noses were also set up along the bridges outside the harbor. A poster read the names of the dead on a photo of the pink mushroom cloud of the explosion and read: “We are here for you.”
In his sermon Sunday, Christian Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said the cabinet should resign because it is impossible “to change the way it governs,” Reuters reported.
“The dismissal of a Second Chamber member as a minister is not enough,” said Lebanon’s top Christian Maronite cleric. “The whole government would have to resign because it can not help the country recover.”
A protest is being evacuated from clashes during a protest against the political elites and government following this week’s deadly explosion at the port of Beirut, which devastated large parts of the capital in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, August 8, 2020. (AP Photo / Thibault Camus)
Lebanese Prime Minister Manal Abdel Samad was the first to step down on Sunday, citing the explosion and the failure of the government in carrying out reform.
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In a televised speech Saturday night, Prime Minister Hassan Diab said the only solution was to hold early elections, which he proposed in a draft law. He called on all political parties to set aside their agreements and said he was ready to stay in the post for two months to allow time for politicians to work on structural reform.
Officials have blamed each other, and 19 people have been arrested, including the head of the port, the head of Lebanon’s customs department, and his predecessor.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
