Lebanese security officials warned the prime minister and prime minister last month that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in the port of Beirut could destroy the capital if it exploded, news reports said on Tuesday.
Two weeks later, industrial chemicals went up in a massive explosion that destroyed most of the capital’s port and swaths, killing more than 200 people, injuring 6,000, and destroying 6,000 buildings.
The Reuters news agency reported that an investigation by the General Directorate of State Security into incidents leading to the explosion included a reference to a private letter sent to President Michel Aoun and Prime Minister Hassan Diab on July 20.
A senior security official summed up the findings of a judicial inquiry launched in January, concluding that the chemicals were needed to be secured immediately.
“At the end of the investigation, Prosecutor General [Ghassan] Oweidat has prepared a final report that was sent to the authorities, “he said, referring to the letter sent to the Prime Minister and President by the General Directorate of State Security, which oversees port security.
“I warned them that this could destroy Beirut if it exploded,” said the official, who was involved in writing the letter and refused to be named.
Reuters could not independently confirm his description of the letter. The presidency did not respond to requests for comment on the July 20 letter.
A spokesman for Diab, whose government resigned Monday after the blast, said the prime minister received the letter on July 20 and that it was sent to the Supreme Defense Council within 48 hours for advice. “The current cabinet got the file 14 days before the explosion and acted on it in a matter of days. Previous board had more than six years and did nothing.”
The Attorney General did not respond to requests for comment.
‘Do what’s necessary’
The correspondence could provoke further criticism and public anger that the explosion is just the latest, if not the most dramatic, example of the negligence of the government that Lebanon has already driven to economic invasion.
When protests erupted over the blast in Lebanon on Monday, Diab’s government took off, though it remains as a supply chain until a new cabinet is formed.
The reconstruction of Beirut alone is expected to cost up to $ 15 billion, in a country that is already effectively bankrupt with total banking system losses of more than $ 100 billion.
Aoun confirmed last week that he was informed about the material. He told reporters that he had directed the Secretary-General of the Supreme Defense Council, an umbrella group of security and military agencies chaired by the president, “to do what is necessary”.
“[The state security service] said it’s dangerous. I’m not responsible! I do not know where it was placed and I did not know how dangerous it was. I have no authority to deal directly with the port. “There is a hierarchy and all those who knew they knew their duties should do the necessary,” said Aoun.
‘No decision’ made
Many questions remain as to why ammonium nitrate shipments in Beirut were reduced in late 2013. Even more baffling is why such a large stash of dangerous material, used in bombs and fertilizers, could stay there for so long.
The letter sent to the President and Prime Minister of Lebanon follows a string of memos and letters sent to the country’s port by officials, customs and security officials over the past six years, and repeatedly urges judges to locate the removal of the ammonium nitrate from its position toward the city center.
The report from the General Directorate of State Security, seen by Reuters, said that many applications had been submitted, without giving an exact number. It said the port’s manifesto department sent several written requests to the customs directorate until 2016 and asked them to ask a judge to re-export the material immediately.
“But so far no decision has been issued on this matter,” the General Directorate of State Security said.
SOURCE:
Reuters news agency
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