Syrian businessman denies ties to Beirut explosives
Businessman George Haswani told Reuters the accusations against him are a fabrication.
One of the Syrian regime-affiliated businessmen implicated in the massive explosion that tore through Beirut last year is denying links to the London-based company believed to have shipped the explosive chemicals that ended up in the Lebanese capital.
Lebanese authorities say the August explosion was caused by some 2,700 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate stored unsafely at the city’s port since 2014. The blast killed nearly 200 people, wounded 6,500 and left a quarter of a million residents without homes.
The stockpile of ammonium nitrate that exploded was originally bound for Mozambique. A privately owned company in Mozambique told AFP that it ordered the chemicals from a company called Savaro in 2013, but the shipment was never delivered.
Lebanese filmmaker Firas Hatoum first uncovered that George Haswani and brothers Imad and Mudalal Khuri ran companies that shared the same London address as Savaro. Haswani, a dual citizen of Syrian and Russia, owns Hesco Engineering and Construction Company.
