Rifi to Franjieh: You Should Have Blamed the Main Blast Culprit

Former justice minister and ex-Internal Security Forces head Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi replied on Saturday to Marada Movement leader Suleiman Franjieh, saying the official should have pointed his finger at the main parties responsible for the presence of ammonium nitrate that triggered Beirut’s deadly explosion on August 4.

“You held the security agencies responsible and they do bear part of it, but you should have rather accused the main and not the secondary players,” said Rifi in a tweet addressing Franjieh.

He was hinting at Hizbullah

Franjieh said in an interview with Lebanon’s MTV that security agencies are the main culprit in the Beirut port explosion that devastated large swathes of the capital.

Franjieh also distanced his ally Hizbullah from the ammonium nitrate shipment that exploded at port and instead pointed the finger at President Michel Aoun and the security agencies.

“The Rhosus ship, the ship of death, docked directly in the port of Beirut and did not pass through Tripoli. The ammonium nitrate was emptied and stored for seven years without anyone daring to disclose the matter,” said Rifi.

Rifi had announced last week that ammonium nitrate was shipped to Lebanon for Hizbullah's benefit.

“In my testimony before Judicial Investigator Judge Fadi Sawwan, I reiterate that the ammonium nitrates were sent to Lebanon by the Iranian revolutionary guard for the benefit of Hizbullah,” Rifi said in a statement on Thursday.