Lebanon: Russia handed us satellite images of the Beirut port explosion

The Lebanese Foreign Minister said in a press conference with his Russian counterpart, that we will hand over the photos to the judiciary so that they contribute to revealing the truth

On Monday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib announced that Russia had handed his country satellite images of the explosion in the port of Beirut.

This came in a joint press conference by the Lebanese Minister with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, during his visit to Russia (ending Tuesday), according to local media, including Al-Jadeed TV (private).

Bouhabib said: "We have received the satellite images of the port of Beirut, and we will hand them over to the judiciary so that they may contribute to revealing the truth."

On October 29, the Lebanese President, Michel Aoun, asked the Russian ambassador to Beirut, Alexander Rudakov, during a meeting that brought them together, to hand his country satellite images of the port explosion for possible use in investigations.

The explosion occurred on August 4, 2020, killing more than 200 people and wounding about 6,000 others, as well as causing massive material damage to residential buildings and commercial establishments.

Bouhabib added: "I invited Lavrov to visit Lebanon, and to see the situation in Lebanon closely."

On the other hand, the Lebanese minister said that "the issue of the Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi, is not an intractable problem, and Lebanon wants a dialogue with the Gulf countries to solve the outstanding problems."

On October 29 last, Riyadh withdrew its ambassador in Beirut and asked the Lebanese ambassador to leave, and this was done later by the Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Yemen, against the background of statements by the Lebanese Minister of Information, George Kordahi, about the Yemen war.

On the Syrian displacement crisis, Bu Habib said: "We want a dignified and safe return for the displaced Syrians, and the position of the Lebanese state is different from the Western position, which considers that the return of the displaced helps Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power."

The number of Syrian refugees residing in Lebanon is approximately 1.5 million, about 900,000 of whom are registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and most of them suffer from difficult living conditions.

For two years, the Lebanese have been experiencing an unprecedented severe economic crisis that has led to a record collapse in the value of the local currency against the dollar, as well as a shortage of fuel and medicine, and the collapse of their purchasing power.