Is the explosion in Beirut related to the Assad regime? | Israel today

According to a Reuters report, Syrian businessmen were linked to companies registered under the same address by the ammonium nitrate manufacturer • In Lebanon demanded to open an investigation

• The explosion in Beirut.

  It is possible that the ammonium was intended to reach the Assad regime

  Photography: 

  IPI

The explosion in the port of Beirut last August may be related to Syrian businessmen, the Reuters news agency reported today (Sunday).

According to the publication, the company that supplied the ammonium nitrate that led to the disaster had ties to businessmen who were under US sanctions due to their ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 

Subaru Ltd., the import company that produced the ammonium in 2013, was registered under the same address in London with companies linked to George Savannah and Imad Khoury, according to a report by documentary filmmaker Firas Khatum, which was recently broadcast on the Lebanese channel Al-J As a result, the question arose as to whether the ammonium nitrate was supposed to reach Syria at all, and Lebanon demanded that an investigation be opened into the affair.  

Businessmen George Savani, Imad Khoury and his brother Modal Khoury, were subject to Washington sanctions for supporting the Assad regime's war on rebels in Syria.

All three joined the Syrian-Russian national organization according to the list of individuals subject to sanctions.

In 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department accused Modal Khoury of trying to purchase ammonium nitrate in late 2013. The sanctions on Imad were imposed a year later due to business contacts with his brother.

Sanctions were imposed on the Swani in 2015 on charges of aiding the Assad regime in purchasing oil from ISIS members, which it denied.  

The explosion in the port of Beirut // Photo: Arab networks

According to an investigation by Reuters, Subaru Ltd. and the engineering and construction company Hasko Ltd. transferred their corporate registers to the same address in London in 2011.

At the same place was registered an office of an oil industry company, where Imad Khoury worked as a manager.

The report stated that sharing addresses of companies does not necessarily prove that they are related to each other, but this is a rare case, especially when the registration is done on the same day. 

In response, Imad Khoury denied ties to Sabaru and Swani's son said he was unlikely to respond to the allegations as it was "complete nonsense".

Modal Khoury said the allegations made no sense. 

Since the Beirut bombing that killed 204 people, injured thousands and destroyed entire neighborhoods, the investigation has come to a dead end after senior ministers and even the prime minister at the time of the disaster, Hassan Diab, refused to cooperate.

The ammonium nitrate was loaded onto the ship Rosos in late 2013 which stopped in Lebanon unplanned.

The Zimbabwean firm, which ordered the explosives, said it did so through a Subaru company.

As mentioned, now the question arises as to whether the stop in Lebanon was planned in the first place.