Customs chief arrested over Beirut blasts

BEIRUT－The head of Lebanon's customs authority was formally arrested on Monday after being questioned over the massive explosions in Beirut earlier this month, the state-run National News Agency reported.

The investigation is focused on why nearly 3,000 tons of explosive ammonium nitrate was being stored at the city's port. The ignition of the stockpile caused explosions that tore through the capital, killing at least 180 people and wounding 6,000.

Thirty people are still missing after the Aug 4 blasts, which caused an estimated $10 billion to $15 billion in damage.

More than 70,000 workers are believed to be unemployed due to the explosions, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Monday, on top of 220,000 people estimated to have lost their jobs as a result of the financial crisis that began in October last year and those left jobless by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dujarric said that nearly 40,000 buildings were damaged, with 3,000 residential structures severely damaged, and at least 2,000 doctors were either injured or had their clinics destroyed.

Documents that surfaced after the blasts, the most destructive in Lebanon's history, showed that officials have known for years that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate were stored in a warehouse at the port and knew about the dangers.

Judge Fadi Sawwan questioned customs chief Badri Daher, who was detained days after the blasts, for more than four hours in the presence of his two lawyers before issuing the arrest warrant, the agency said. Daher will remain in custody as the investigation continues.

'Very complex' probe

The National News Agency said that after questioning Daher, Sawwan headed to the scene of the blasts to survey the damage and will later return to question Hassan Koraytem, who was the top port official until the day of the explosions.

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said the probe into the devastating blasts is "very complex" and would not be finished quickly. Aoun said the probe is divided into three parts. The first aims to determine the circumstances surrounding the cargo, the second where it came from and who shipped it, and the third to find who was responsible for handling and securing it.

Aoun said the FBI and French investigators were helping because "they, more than us, have the capability and ability to find out the details of what got the ship here, what is the source and who owns it".

He dismissed as "impossible" the chance that the explosions were caused by a blast from stored arms of the Hezbollah group, but said that all possibilities would be investigated.

A nine-member team of FBI investigators arrived in Beirut on Sunday, according to a Lebanese aviation official, and were believed to have joined the investigation. French investigators have been active for days at the port.

Popular anger has swelled over the ruling elite's corruption and mismanagement. Lebanon's government, which is supported by Hezbollah and its allies, resigned on Aug 10 and continues to serve in a caretaker capacity. There are no formal consultations underway on who will replace Hassan Diab as prime minister and no likely candidate has emerged.

AGENCIES VIA XINHUA