“Dangerous chemical“ threat adds to Lebanon’s woes

“Dangerous chemical“ threat adds to Lebanon’s woes

BEIRUT--Lebanon's outgoing Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, said on Friday that experts had found “dangerous chemicals” at a warehouse at the Zahrani oil installations in the south.

Diab said the country's atomic energy authority had identified the substances as “nuclear” after reviewing a report by German company Combi Lift, which Lebanon had tasked with clearing hazardous material at Beirut port.

A Combi Lift spokesman said they did not have any knowledge of the Zahrani issue.

If the substances are indeed “nuclear”, their origin is unclear. They could be medical waste but ought not to be spent nuclear fuel rods. The only Arab country with nuclear power is the UAE which is this month just starting up its two nuclear reactors.

“This needs to be discussed now and needs to be dealt with promptly,” a statement by Lebanon's higher defence council cited Diab as saying after a meeting.

His comments came nearly eight months after a stockpile of chemicals detonated in Beirut, killing nearly 200 people in one of the largest non-nuclear explosions on record. The ammonium nitrate went up in flames last August after being stored unsafely at the port for years.

Diab's cabinet has served in a caretaker capacity since resigning over the devastation that hit