The port of Beirut as it appeared following the Aug. 4, 2020 blast. (Anwar Amro/AFP Archives)
Two years after the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, the secrecy of the investigation has remained fiercely guarded by investigating judge Tarek Bitar, who took over the case. L’Orient-Le Jour, however, takes stock of all the available information so far.Who imported the ammonium nitrate?In 2013, a chemical trading company, Savaro Ltd., purchased ammonium nitrate from a chemical manufacturing plant, Rustavi Azot, in Georgia.Loaded onto an old Moldovan-flagged ship, the Rhosus, owned by a Cypriot tycoon, Charalambos Manoli, the goods were to be officially delivered to an explosives factory in Mozambique, Fabrica de Explosivos de Mozambique (FEM).But on the way, the ship stopped in Turkey and then in Greece, before docking in Beirut, to pick up additional cargo to finance the voyage.The Rhosus anchored in Beirut on Nov. 20, 2013. It...
Two years after the Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut port explosion, the secrecy of the investigation has remained fiercely guarded by investigating judge Tarek Bitar, who took over the case. L’Orient-Le Jour, however, takes stock of all the available information so far.Who imported the ammonium nitrate?In 2013, a chemical trading company, Savaro Ltd., purchased ammonium nitrate from a chemical manufacturing plant, Rustavi Azot, in Georgia.Loaded onto an old Moldovan-flagged ship, the Rhosus, owned by a Cypriot tycoon, Charalambos Manoli, the goods were to be officially delivered to an explosives factory in Mozambique, Fabrica de Explosivos de Mozambique (FEM).But on the way, the ship stopped in Turkey and then in Greece, before docking in Beirut, to pick up additional cargo to finance the voyage.The Rhosus anchored in Beirut on Nov. 20, 2013....