UN chief pays tribute to victims of Beirut Port explosion

BEIRUT — The U.N. main paid tribute Monday to the victims of past year’s monolithic detonation successful Beirut’s larboard explosion, expressing solidarity with the families’ quest for justice.

The Aug. 4, 2020 blast has been described arsenic 1 of the largest non-nuclear explosions successful the world. It devastated the Lebanese capital, sidesplitting astatine slightest 216 radical and injuring thousands.

Standing nether the rain, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who is visiting Lebanon, laid a wreath astatine a memorial bearing the names of the victims astatine the Beirut Port tract of the explosion.

The blast was caused by the detonation of hundreds of tons of ammonium nitrate stored successful a warehouse astatine the larboard for years, seemingly with the cognition of elder politicians and information officials who did thing astir it.

More than 16 months aft the authorities launched a judicial investigation, astir everything other remains chartless — from who ordered the shipment to wherefore officials ignored repeated warnings of the danger. Families of the victims person been pressing for answers, accusing governmental parties of obstructing the nationalist investigation.

“I cognize the suffering and I cognize the volition of the radical to cognize the information and the volition of the radical to person due accountability,” Guterres said successful a property connection aft gathering with Lebanon’s parliament speaker, Nabih Berri. “I privation to explicit my precise heavy solidarity to each the victims of that tragedy.”

The section probe, pb by Judge Tarek Bitar, has been facing galore challenges, including disapproval by almighty politicians and lawsuits from defendants who person questioned its fairness.

Disagreements implicit the judge’s enactment person paralyzed the government, which has not met since Oct. 12. Lebanon’s almighty militant radical Hezbollah and 2 allied groups person demanded that Bitar beryllium replaced.

Guterres called connected Lebanese governmental leaders to travel unneurotic to flooded the country’s aggregate crises, peculiarly the economical meltdown that has sank the erstwhile middle-income federation into poverty.

Guterres arrived successful Lebanon connected Sunday for a three-day visit. He said helium is present to explicit solidarity with the Lebanese radical and urged the planetary assemblage to connection much fiscal assistance to the state successful request of humanitarian assistance.