The leader of the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, Hassan Nasrallah, "categorically denied" on Friday that his organization had an "arms warehouse" in the port of Beirut, rocked by a deadly and destructive explosion.
"I totally, categorically deny that there is anything of ours in the port, neither weapons warehouse, nor missile warehouse (…) nor a bomb, nor a bullet, nor ammonium nitrate," hammered the head of Hezbollah in a televised speech, after accusations in the media or within the public opinion pointing the finger at the influential Lebanese Shiite movement.
Emmanuel Macron's visit welcomed
The explosion in the port of Beirut on Tuesday left more than 150 dead and 5,000 injured. According to the authorities, it was caused by several tons of ammonium nitrate stored for six years in a warehouse "without precautionary measures", according to the Prime Minister himself.
Visiting Beirut on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron called for a “transparent” international investigation. He met with representatives of the main political forces, including Hezbollah, and called for “changing the system” and stopping “the division of Lebanon”.
A visit that the leader of the Lebanese Shiite organization welcomed. "We look positively at any assistance and any expression of sympathy towards Lebanon, and any visit to Lebanon these days, especially if it is in the context of Lebanon's aid and the rally," said Hassan Nasrallah.
New arrests
A judicial source on Friday reported five new arrests among customs and port officials, including engineers, bringing the total number of people in pre-trial detention to 21.
"If the army has the confidence of all the Lebanese and the political forces and political leaders, go ahead, instruct the Lebanese army to investigate and announce the results, if you say you trust she, ”Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday.
"If in this case, the Lebanese state and the political class, whether power or the opposition, do not succeed in obtaining results in the investigation and do not manage to bring those responsible to justice" it means that there is no hope of building a state ”in Lebanon, he continued. This Friday, the President of Lebanon Michel Aoun rejected the idea of an international investigation into the explosion.
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