Alghadeer TV Alghadeer TV
The US government has called for a “credible” probe into the massive port explosion in the Lebanese capital of Beirut, further conditioning any financial support on its version of reforms in the Arab country neighboring the US-sponsored Israeli regime.
“When we see Lebanese leaders committed to real change, change in word and deed, America and its international partners will respond to systemic reforms with sustained financial support,” said the US Under-Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale in an obvious meddling tone resembling similarly intrusive calls made by French President Emmanuel Macron a day after the huge blast.
“The popular demand for real change could not be clearer,” Hale then underlined.
The August 4 explosion, which the authorities suspect was caused by over 2,000 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port for years, killed 178 people, injured 6,000 and left 300,000 homeless, according to latest official figures.
“We can never go back to an era in which anything goes at the port or the borders of Lebanon that had to contribute to this situation,” the senior US diplomat further claimed after a visit to the port, noting that American FBI agents would be arriving shortly in Beirut at the invitation of Lebanon to help investigate the cause of the blast.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has said a probe will look into whether the cause of the blast was negligence, an accident or “external interference,” vowing an impartial probe into the incident and taking action against the culprits.
Aoun had previously stated that the blast might have been triggered by a foreign attack, saying: “There is a possibility of external interference through a rocket or bomb or other act,” he said.
Following a surprise visit to Beirut by the French president, whose meddling remarks sparked a huge outrage among the Lebanese people, Aoun further underlined that no colonial power can return to the country, insisting that “Lebanese sovereignty will not be harmed under my watch.”
