{"id":23755,"date":"2020-08-06T11:40:39","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T15:40:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=23755"},"modified":"2020-08-06T11:42:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-06T15:42:23","slug":"heres-how-the-2500-tons-of-russian-ammonium-nitrate-is-being-used-to-cover-for-the-true-nuclear-terrorists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stateofthenation.co\/?p=23755","title":{"rendered":"Here’s how the 2,500 tons of ‘Russian’ ammonium nitrate is being used to cover for the true nuclear terrorists."},"content":{"rendered":"

“He Abandoned The Deadly Cargo”: Meet The Mysterious Businessman At Center Of The Beirut Blast Saga<\/h2>\n

ZeroHedge.com<\/p>\n

Thus far an official ongoing investigation by Lebanese authorities into the cause of Tuesday’s\u00a0Beirut port blast<\/a>, now considered the largest non-military munitions explosion in history, has dubbed it severe “negligence”.<\/p>\n

It’s now well known that over\u00a02,500 tons of ammonium nitrate, an ultra-combustible chemical compound utilized in fertilizers and production of explosives, was\u00a0allowed to sit at the port in a warehouse going back seven years<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Specifically, President Michel Aoun identified that it was no less than\u00a02,750 metric tons of ammonium nitrate that detonated as it was “stored unsafely”\u00a0\u2014 though port officials reportedly attempted to warn the government for years that it must be moved. A number of\u00a0port officials have been placed under house arrest\u00a0<\/strong>pending the investigation.<\/p>\n

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An undated photo of the vessel Rhosus, via The National\/EPA<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Customs chief Badri Daher has told international media that his agency\u00a0pleaded with Lebanese courts and high officials to order the chemical removed<\/strong>. Daher says the request for urgent removal\u00a0was made<\/a>\u00a0six times to the judiciary over the years<\/strong>, all denied.<\/p>\n

“This did not happen,”\u00a0he said<\/a>. The end result after the dangerous chemical \u2014 which is the same use in the deadly 1995 Oklahoma City bombing\u00a0\u2014 was stored there since 2013 (also in undiluted form), was the most destructive blast in Lebanese history, killing over 135 people and injuring more than 5,000 – not to mention an estimated three billion dollars in damage.<\/p>\n

“Legal documents, court correspondence and statements by public officials now trying to pass the buck shed light on the operations of the port, which has been dogged by allegations of widespread bribery and controlled in large measure by the militant Hezbollah group,”\u00a0The Washington Post<\/a>\u00a0reports.<\/p>\n

And the almost unbelievable story of how the explosive substance got there has emerged. It’s centered on a derelict and leaking vessel leased by a Russian businessman living in Cyprus.\u00a0In 2013 the man\u00a0identified<\/a>\u00a0as\u00a0Igor Grechushkin, was paid $1 million to transport the high-density ammonium nitrate to the port of Beira in Mozambique.<\/strong>\u00a0That’s when the\u00a0ship, named the Rhosus,\u00a0left the Black Sea port of Batumi, in Georgia.<\/p>\n

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UK Daily Mail and The Siberian Times has published the above photograph of Igor Grechushkin, reported to be still residing in Limassol, Cyprus with his wife. Image: Ren TV<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But amid mutiny by an unpaid crew, a hole in the ship’s hull, and constant legal troubles, the ship never made it. Instead, it entered the port of Beirut where it was\u00a0impounded by Lebanese authorities over\u00a0severe safety issues<\/a><\/strong>, during which time\u00a0the ammonium nitrate was transferred off<\/strong>, and the largely Ukrainian crew was prevented from disembarking, leading to a brief international crisis among countries as Kiev sought the safe return of its nationals.<\/p>\n

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Meanwhile, Igor Grechushkin – believed to still be living in Cyprus –\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0simply abandoned the dangerously subpar\u00a0vessel he leased, as well as its crew, never to be heard from again<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

According to a damning\u00a0legal briefing at the time<\/a>:<\/p>\n

“…the vessel was abandoned by her owners after charterers and cargo concern lost interest in the cargo<\/strong>. The vessel quickly ran out of stores, bunker and provisions.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The ammonium nitrate\u00a0was supposed to be auctioned off<\/strong>, but this never happened. Apparently exasperated customs and dock officials even suggested Lebanese farmers could simply spread it across their fields for a good crop yield. But not even this simple solution was heeded, nor proposals to give it to the Lebanese Army.<\/p>\n

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During the standoff which created a diplomatic rift between Ukraine and Lebanon: the largely Ukrainian crew was prevented from leaving the ship, even at times struggling to get food.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Via The Siberian Times: “The crew – eight Ukrainian and two Russian men – was forced to stay on board of the vessel while the owner Grechushkin declared himself bankrupt and \u2018abandoned the ship\u2019.\u00a0Lebanese authorities agreed to let six out of ten sailors to leave the country,\u00a0others were left stranded on the ship for almost a year<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Instead the deadly substance languished at port, and the Rhosus\u00a0sank<\/a>\u00a0in the harbor years later. The last crew members weren’t allowed to leave the ship and return home until\u00a0August 2014.\u00a0Grechushkin may have paid for their return tickets at that time.<\/p>\n

WaPo\u00a0relates<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cOwing to the\u00a0risks associated with retaining the Ammonium Nitrate<\/strong>\u00a0on board the vessel, the port authorities discharged the cargo onto the port\u2019s warehouses,\u201d lawyers acting on behalf of creditors wrote in 2015.\u00a0\u201cThe vessel and cargo remain to date in port awaiting auctioning and\/or proper disposal,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0it added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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And then later, more warnings, which apparently are in writing\u00a0in legal documents<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn view of the serious danger posed by keeping this shipment in the warehouses in an inappropriate climate,\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0Shafik Marei, the director of Lebanese customs, wrote in May 2016,\u00a0\u201cwe repeat our request to demand the maritime agency to re-export the materials immediately.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Astoundingly, even lawyers which had represented the effectively abandoned\u00a0crew of the ship (which Ukrainian media at the time said were “hostages” of the Lebanese government)\u00a0while it had\u00a0been detained at port\u00a0warned Lebanese government officials that the sensitive cargo was in danger\u00a0\u201cof sinking or blowing up at any moment\u201d<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n