U.S. Contractor Knew of Explosive Material in Beirut Since at Least 2016 ▻https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/10/world/middleeast/beirut-explosion-us-contractor.html
An American contractor spotted and reported the potential danger at least four years ago, but U.S. officials denied they were aware of the findings until last week, after the blast.
[…]
The presence of the chemicals was spotted and reported by an American port security expert during a safety inspection of the port, the cable said. Current and former American officials who have worked in the Mideast say the contractor would have been expected to report the finding to the U.S. Embassy or Pentagon.
[…]
A senior State Department official denied that American officials were aware of the contractor’s findings and said the cable cited by The Times “shows that they had not” been informed.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a cable that was not public, said the contractor “made an unofficial site visit to the port approximately four years ago, and was not at the time a U.S. government or State Department employee.” The official said the department had no record of the contractor communicating his findings until last week, after the deadly explosion.
Des fois que tout cela était secret, et qu’il y aurait eu besoin d’un « American port security expert » en visite de contrôle dans le port de Beyrouth en 2016… alors que l’information a été publiée très ouvertement dans ShipArrested, in english, dans son édition d’octobre 2015 :
►https://shiparrested.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-Arrest-News-11th-issue.pdf
On 23/9/2013, m/v Rhosus, flying the Moldovian flag, sailed from Batumi Port, Georgia heading to Biera in Mozambique carrying 2,750 tons of Ammonium Nitrate in bulk.
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Owing to the risks associated with retaining the Ammonium Nitrate on board the vessel, the port authorities discharged the cargo onto the port’s warehouses. The vessel and cargo remain to date in port awaiting auctioning and/or proper disposal.
Et comme le rappelle l’article d’Al Manar signalé par @gonzo, l’affaire d’un cargo de nitrate d’ammonium n’était pas du tout passée inaperçu, dans le contexte de la guerre en Syrie :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/871244
Même si l’article de Syria Truth ne me semble pas du tout une preuve que le matériau était destiné à la rébellion syrienne, au moins ça indique que l’affaire était déjà publique et commentée fin 2015.
