Russia on Monday handed over to Lebanon satellite images taken before and after the explosion that ravaged the port of Beirut last year, saying it hopes the unpublished documents could help the investigation. “
Today we gave documents prepared by (the Russian space agency) Roscosmos, satellite images. We hope that this will help the investigation into the causes of this incident
”, declared the head of the Russian diplomacy Sergei Lavrov, after having received in Moscow his Lebanese counterpart, Abdallah Bou Habib. These are images of the Port of Beirut taken before the explosion on August 4, 2020 and others taken shortly after the explosion. This is the first time that the Lebanese authorities have received satellite documents about this disaster.
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"
Roscosmos researchers say that experts should be able to understand, from the nature of the destruction, what it is, what could be linked
" to this tragedy, said Sergey Lavrov.
The explosion of an enormous quantity of ammonium nitrate, stored at the port of Beirut, had left more than 215 dead and devastated entire neighborhoods of the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese officials, accused of negligence, have opposed an international investigation.
The judge in charge of the local investigation is under intense political pressure and had to suspend on November 4, for the third time, his investigations following the appeal of a former minister.
Read alsoExplosion at the port of Beirut: the prosecution against a former leader suspended
The magistrate had requested the cooperation of several countries, notably requesting the United States and France, to obtain satellite images of the port on August 4, 2020, without success until then.
In addition to the investigation into the explosion at the port of Beirut, Sergei Lavrov and Bou Habib raised the issue of Syrian refugees in the countries neighboring Syria, in the grip of a complex civil war since 2011. Sergey Lavrov, who has said to support the return to Syria of these refugees, mentioned the possible organization of an international conference on this issue in Lebanon, which says it welcomes more than 1.5 million Syrians.