Beirut port blast: French report rules out bomb or missile attack

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This August 5, 2020 file photo, is the scene of an explosion that hit the seaport of Beirut, Lebanon. 211 killed , 6500 Injured after several hundred tons of ammonium nitrate exploded . 2750 tons were stored there for nearly 7 years, reportedly for use by the Syrian regime in its barrel bombs. The shipment was reportedly confiscated by Badri Daher a close associate of President Michel Aoun and his son-in-law Gebran Bassil , both are allied with the Syrian regime . The shipment arrived at a time when Syria was surrendering its chemical weapons to a UN backed organization for destruction . Aoun officially knew about the Ammonium Nitrate 2 weeks before the explosion but did nothing about it . He , along with his Hezbollah allies refused an international investigation but promised a local investigation that will bring the culprits to justice in less than a week but 8 months later not one politician has been charged (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, Beirut, Lebanon(Photo by Anwar Amro/AFP)

Al-Akhbar newspaper reported on Saturday that Investigative judge Tarek al-Bitar has received the report of the French investigators, who ruled out the theory that the Beirut port was targeted by a missile or a bomb that caused the blast.

Many conspiracy theories surfaced after the massive explosion that killed hundreds of people , injured thousands and left over hundreds of thousands homeless.

It was a missile strike, one story goes, no doubt carried out by an American drone. No, it was the work of Israeli fighter jets, according to another theory , a strike in the shadow conflict between Israel and Iran. Others swear it was part of a nefarious plot to plunge Lebanon into yet another civil war.

Since a stockpile of more than 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate blew up on the edge of Beirut on August 4, 2020 , infuriated residents have been struggling to understand how the blast happened, and just what — or who — is to blame for the colossal explosion that leveled entire neighborhoods, killed at least 211 people injured another 6500 left over 300, 000 homeless.

President Michel Aoun who along with his ally the Iranian backed Hezbollah militant group refused to allow an international investigation . Aoun promised a local investigation that will find and try the culprits within less than a week. It has been over 10 months and people are still waiting .

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