Faizel Patel – 19/08/2020
Investigative journalist and founder of the Beirut Report Habib Battah says it is hard to know when the war ends and when the war begins in Lebanon.
Battah was speaking to Radio Islam on Tuesday about the Beirut explosion on 4 August.
The mega-blast that tore through Lebanon’s capital with the force of an earthquake, killing more than 100 people and injuring more than 4,000 others, resulted from the ignition of a huge depot of ammonium nitrate at Beirut’s port.
It is believed there was a fire leading up to the explosion that flattened the harbour front and surrounding buildings.
Following the explosion, Lebanon’s premier Hassan Diab announced the resignation of the government over the deadly Beirut port blast he blamed on the incompetence and corruption of a decades-old ruling class.
Battah says the country has been at war almost all the time with civil war and constant bomb blasts.
He says there is a lot of mistrust in the government.
“In Lebanon we’ve had so many decades’ of wars. Other presidents have been assassinated and prime ministers have been assassinated and there’s been no conclusive investigation telling the truth about any of these things. No one ever goes to jail it seems in Lebanon, everyone is given amnesty because we kind of still at war.”
Battah says everyone in Lebanon have their own loyalties and it’s rather a state in name more than actuality.
“Many people can see how when you have such a chaotic state of affairs in a country, when you don’t have any kind of oversight, regulatory bodies or inspections of hazardous materials, it’s an accident waiting to happen. One of the things people should ask themselves around this world is, is this just a Lebanese problem or what role does your government play, because all the factions in Lebanon get their money, their weapons from the international community.”
Battah says Lebanon is the “chessboard of the world” and an international issue in which every country should be helping it.
Listen to the interview with Habib Battah
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