A letter from Lebanese security officials warning that the 2,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate stored dangerously in the port of Beirut could destroy the city was sent to both the prime minister and the president at the end of July, according to Reuters.
The new information underscores the level of incompetence over the infamous port deal that led to a catastrophic explosion that killed more than 200 people, injured 6,000 and destroyed 6,000 buildings, leaving more than a quarter of a million homeless.
According to documents seen by Reuters, an investigation into what led to the explosion currently leading by the General Directorate of State Security includes a private letter from officials about the explosives sent on July 20 to President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab.
Diab and his entire cabinet stepped down Monday night, but they have been asked to remain in place in a caring role until a new government can be formed. Angry protesters once again took to the streets to call for action, including the dismissal of the president, who has been in power since 2016.
The protesters and many in the Lebanese diaspora have also called for an international inquiry, but Aoun advised against this, telling the press that no “foreign interference” was necessary.
Earlier reports showed that the deadly cargo was loaded from a Russian-owned cargo ship en route to Mozambique in 2014. Numerous letters from various authorities to the government warned that everything could generate ammonium nitrate and inflate the city, just as it did .
Reuters also reports that in January 2020 there was a judicial inquiry to finally tackle the explosives. “There was a danger that this material, like steel, could be used in a terrorist attack,” an unnamed official involved in the July letter told Reuters. “At the end of the investigation, Attorney General (Ghassan) Oweidat drew up a final report which was sent to the authorities.”
The official told Reuters, “I warned her that this could destroy Beirut if it exploded.”
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