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Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
FBI probe shows amount of chemicals in Beirut blast was a fraction of original shipment |
2021-07-31 |
[AlAhram] The blast was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, killing more than 200 people, wounding thousands, and devastating swathes of Beirut. The amount of ammonium nitrate that blew up at Beirut port last year was one fifth of the shipment unloaded there in 2013, the FBI ...Formerly one of the world's premier criminal investigation organizations, something for a nation to be proud of. Now it's a political arm of the Deep State oligarchy that is willing to trump up charges, suppress evidence, or take out insurance policies come election time... concluded after the blast, adding to suspicions that much of the cargo had gone missing. As the first anniversary approaches on Aug. 4, major questions remain unanswered, including how a huge quantity of ammonium nitrate - which can be used to make fertiliser or bombs - was left unsafely stored in a capital city for years. The blast was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever recorded, killing more than 200 people, wounding thousands, and devastating swathes of Beirut. The FBI's Oct. 7, 2020 report, which was seen by Rooters this week, estimates around 552 tonnes of ammonium nitrate went kaboom!that day, much less than the 2,754 tonnes that arrived on a Russian-leased fat merchantman in 2013. The FBI report does not give any explanation as to how the discrepancy arose, or where the rest of the shipment may have gone. In response to a detailed request for comment, an FBI spokesperson referred Rooters to the Lebanese authorities. FBI Sherlocks came to Beirut after the blast at Leb ![]() 's request. A senior Lebanese official who was aware of the FBI report and its findings said the Lebanese authorities agreed with the Bureau on the quantity that went kaboom!. Many officials in Lebanon have previously said in private they believe a lot of the shipment was stolen. The ammonium nitrate was going from Georgia to Mozambique on a Russian-leased fat merchantman when the captain says he was instructed to make an unscheduled stop in Beirut and take on extra cargo. The ship arrived in Beirut in November 2013 but never left, becoming tangled in a legal dispute over unpaid port fees and ship defects. No one ever came forward to claim the shipment. The senior Lebanese official said there were no firm conclusions as to why the quantity that went kaboom!was less than the original shipment. One theory was that part of it was stolen. A second theory was that only part of the shipment detonated, with the rest blown out to sea, the official said. The FBI report said "an approximate amount reaching around 552 metric tonnes of ammonium nitrate went kaboom!in warehouse 12". It noted the warehouse was large enough to house the 2,754 tonne shipment, which was stored in one-tonne bags, but added "it is not logical that all of them were present at the time of the earth-shattering kaboom". |
Posted by:trailing wife |
#6 Occam's Razor: the fertilizer disappeared out the back door and was sold. |
Posted by: magpie 2021-07-31 17:05 |
#5 There's a possibility that militias opposed to Hezbollah might have stolen some of the fertilizer since it's harder for them to get explosives. When you're building a car bomb, fertilizer, while inferior to Semtex, is better than grocery store chemicals. Given the amount of weaponry sloshing through Iraq and Syria due to decades of insurgency, I'd be surprised if better bomb materials than fertilizer weren't readily available. Lebanon has long and porous borders. It's known as the bazaar of the region for a reason. |
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2021-07-31 15:10 |
#4 The Question is...Where is the rest of it? Fertilizer is most efficiently used to feed crops. That's probably where it went. Lebanon has been an Iranian province in all but name since the 80's, when Hezbollah took over after Israel evicted the PLO, so there's no shortage of ordnance of all kinds. |
Posted by: Zhang Fei 2021-07-31 15:02 |
#3 Can one believe anything the FBI says? |
Posted by: Gerthudion Whomoper3485 2021-07-31 13:02 |
#2 Can DOJ and our premier agency track down the rest of the shipment? Or are they too pre-occupied with tax returns, lawsuits over immigration and pursuing conservatives in Washington and other places on Jan. 6th. |
Posted by: JohnQC 2021-07-31 09:21 |
#1 The Question is...Where is the rest of it? |
Posted by: Sonny Black 2021-07-31 07:17 |