ByNews Desk The Cradle
The Lebanese Armed Forces announced the additional arrests of associates of the Sakr brothers' ammonium smuggling operation
On 17 September, a truck filled with ammonium nitrate, the same material that caused the blast at the port of Beirut on 4 August 2020, was confiscated by the Lebanese army at a junction in Ayat.
At the time, six people involved in the transport of the explosive material were arrested by the LAF, including Maroun al-Sakr, brother of Ibrahim al-Sakr, an official in the right-wing, US-allied Lebanese Forces party, and Ahmad al-Zein. The LAF statement adds that these individuals have been deferred to the Lebanese Intelligence directorate for investigation.
Among the nine suspects arrested are Saadallah al-Solh and two Syrian nationals, Khaled al-Hassan and Obeida al-Abd al-Rahman, who were transporting the materials from their location in Bednayel in the Bekaa westward towards Beirut.
Saadallah al-Solh, the warehouse owner of the Solh Grain and Feed Foundation, an ammonium nitrate distributor, purchased a large quantity of ammonium nitrate from Al-Sakr in March, according to the statement.
The Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that samples taken from the ammonium nitrate found in the seized truck showed a concentration of nitrogen at 34.7 percent. This confirms that the nitrate in the truck was different than the nitrate that caused the 4 August 2020 explosion at the Port of Beirut.
Ahmad al-Zein, a supply chain manager at the Solh warehouse, said last week that the 20 tons of ammonium nitrate were intended to be planted on someone close to Amal and Hezbollah to frame Hezbollah as responsible for the events at the port.
He added that the framing, designed to deflect blame from the US-backed Lebanese Forces, was made at the request of US Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea.
Without the supervision of the army and the approval of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense, nitrogen at high levels is prohibited from import into Lebanon. Investigations are currently underway to find and arrest the smugglers of the imported nitrate into Lebanon.
The ammonium nitrate was intended for Ibrahim al-Sakr. He currently remains in hiding after the discovery of over 38 full tanks of hoarded fuel estimated at 57,000 liters each in Zahle.
Al-Sakr owns a gas station in Halat and was planning on selling the fuel to card-carrying members of the Lebanese Forces party.
Lebanese journalist Ghassan Saoud revealed in an 18 August video report that ammonium nitrate was found at the same farm where Ibrahim and Maroun al-Sakr were hoarding fuel.
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