The company used to ship a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate to Beirut port, where it caused a devastating explosion last August, has been linked to three influential businessmen with ties to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a new investigation has found. The revelations about Savaro Limited – a London shelf company that was deregistered at Companies House on Tuesday – have amplified suspicions that Beirut had always been the cargo’s intended.
LONDON: The London-based company used to ship the ammonium nitrate that caused last August’s devastating explosion in Beirut has been linked to three individuals known to have ties to Syrian President Bashar Assad. An investigation by Lebanese filmmaker Firas Hatoum uncovered connections between London-based Savaro Ltd. and three figures who had been central to efforts to
Guardian Smears Syria s President With Implausible Link To Beirut s Port Blast
On August 4 2020 2.750 tons of ammonium nitrate, stored in a warehouse of Beirut s harbour, exploded. The blast destroyed large parts of the city.
The dangerous load had come on a defect ship which was impounded by the Lebanese authorities. It had been stored since 2013. Despite urgent warnings, the complicate Lebanese bureaucracy had never found a way to get rid of the dangerous load.
Soon conspiracy theories sprang up about the real ownership and purpose of the load and of who might have had an interest in igniting it. None made much sense. The original explanation of a bureaucratic tussle and pure neglect are still the most plausible cause.
Assad-Linked Businessmen Tied to Beirut Blast in August
The port of Lebanon’s capital Beirut after an explosion of ammonium nitrate, August 4, 2020 (Anwar Amro/AFP/Getty)
Three Syrian businessmen linked to the Assad regime have been connected to the devastating port blast in Lebanon’s capital Beirut in August.
An investigation has tied George Haswani and the brothers Imad and Mudalal Khuri to the company which bought the ammonium nitrate that was stored in a port warehouse since November 2013.
The detonation of 2,750 tons of the nitrate on August 4 destroyed the port, causing at least 204 deaths, and 7,500 injuries, and $15 billion in damage. With the force of a 3.5 magnitude earthquake, the blast levelled the immediate area, which provides 60% of Lebanon’s imports, and much of Beirut.
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Beirut Port area after the explosion of Ammonium Nitrate shipment . 200 were killed , , 6500 Injured , 300,000 became homeless when a large part of the city was destroyed . 2750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate were stored there for nearly 7 years. There were unconfirmed reports that Hezbollah shipped out most of the product to Syria , UK, Germany , Cyprus and several areas of Lebanon . Experts believe that if the whole 2750 tons exploded the whole of Beirut would have been leveled. According to the Al Jazeera report , the product was bought and shipped to Lebanon by 3 Syrian businessman with close ties to Bashar al Assad’s regime
Three Syrian businessmen with close ties to the Syrian government have been linked to the company that bought the explosive material that entered Beirut’s port in 2013 and fuelled a massive explosion in August that devastated parts of the Lebanese capital.