'Impossible' Beirut Port blast was caused by Hezbollah arms - president
Hezbollah, which exercises sway over government in Lebanon, has fought several wars with Israel and is classified by the United States as a terrorist group.
By REUTERS, ROSSELLA TERCATINA man rides on a motorbike near rubble from damaged buildings following Tuesday's blast in Beirut's port area, Lebanon August 6, 2020.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Lebanese President Michel Aoun dismissed as “impossible” the chance that a vast explosion in Beirut’s port this month was caused by a blast from a deposit of Hezbollah arms, but said that all possibilities would be investigated.Speaking to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Aoun also said that he was “misquoted” about his willingness to consider peace talks in Israel and he denied that he had any intention to do so.Lebanese authorities are probing what caused massive amounts of ammonium nitrate warehoused unsafely for years at the port to denotate in a mushroom cloud on Aug. 4, killing 178 people, injuring 6,000 and destroying swathes of the city.Aoun, an ally of the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah movement, told Italian daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Tuesday that the group did not store weapons at the port, echoing comments by Hezbollah’s leader earlier this month.“Impossible, but serious events like these light up spirits and imagination,” Aoun said when asked about people advancing the hypothesis, but added that “even this lead will be investigated”.Asked if he was really open to reach peace with Israel following the interview he gave to French BFM TV news channel on Saturday night, where he seemed to contemplate the option, he categorically answered “no.”“I was misquoted. I said that there are many problems between us and Israel that must first be resolved,” he added, referring to “issues relating to the maritime border and disputed areas on land borders, or the entire chapter of the Palestinians and the hundreds of thousands of refugees on our territory.”Aoun attacked Israel also when he was asked about the demand by many Lebanese people that Hezbollah would be disarmed and its militias integrated in the regular army.“Israel continues to provoke and launch attacks. Only when that ends will we be able to think about Hezbollah's disarmament,” he said. “We need to remember that in the last 15 years there was only one case of frictions between the army and Hezbollah, on May 7, 2008, and it was soon resolved.”Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has denied accusations that his heavily armed movement had weaponry warehoused at Beirut port. He has said that the group would wait for results of the investigation but if it turns out to be an act of sabotage by Israel then it would “pay an equal price”.Hezbollah, which exercises sway over government in Lebanon, has fought several wars with Israel and is classified by the United States as a terrorist group.Israel has denied any involvement in the blast.Aoun has said the probe is looking into whether neglect, an accident or “external interference” caused the blast.“Although it seems that (it) has been an accident, I want to avoid being accused of not having listened to every voice,” Aoun told the Italian daily.The president said that many people claimed seeing airplanes fly by the port just before the blast and, although “not very credible”, they should be listened to. He also stated that he opposes an international committee to investigate the blast.In the interview, the president also commented on the agreement between Israel and the UAE.“Judging the choices of a sovereign state is not up to me,” he said. “However, I still believe that Arab governments should maintain some form of political coordination towards Israel. I wish we were more united.”
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