Lebanon customs chief says government told of danger, didn’t respond

The head of Lebanon’s customs department says one of the country’s main security agencies reported to the Cabinet in the past year about the danger from explosive chemicals being stored at the Beirut port.

Badri Daher tells The Associated Press that State Security has been investigating the stockpile of ammonium nitrate for the past year. He says it raised reports about the danger to the Cabinet, the state prosecutor and other state institutions.

Security officials are not immediately available for comment.

Daher confirms that he sent a letter in 2017 to a judge in which he warned of the “dangers if the materials remain where they are, affecting the safety of (port) employees” and asked the judge for guidance.

Daher says he and his predecessor sent a total of six letters but never got a response.

— AP