Lebanese MP Says Assad Associates Imported Chemicals Behind Beirut Port Blast

A massive explosion at the Beirut Port on August 4 killed more than 200 people and laid waste to large swathes of the Lebanese capital. AFP file photo
A massive explosion at the Beirut Port on August 4 killed more than 200 people and laid waste to large swathes of the Lebanese capital. AFP file photo
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Lebanese MP Says Assad Associates Imported Chemicals Behind Beirut Port Blast

A massive explosion at the Beirut Port on August 4 killed more than 200 people and laid waste to large swathes of the Lebanese capital. AFP file photo
A massive explosion at the Beirut Port on August 4 killed more than 200 people and laid waste to large swathes of the Lebanese capital. AFP file photo

Syrians close to President Bashar al-Assad have brought the dangerous chemicals that exploded on August 4 at the Beirut Port, member of the Strong Republic parliamentary bloc MP Maged Eddy Abillama said Sunday.

The MP said he has informed the public prosecutor about the information he has to support the ongoing investigation into the devastating explosion.

Abillama said he will reveal more information on Tuesday.

“I will visit, with the head of the Change Movement, lawyer Elie Mahfoud, the office of the public prosecutor to file a complaint over the crime of the Beirut Port blast,” he said in a television interview.

“The Syrian regime benefited from its proxies in Lebanon to place the ammonium nitrate at the Port of Beirut. The judiciary should assume its responsibilities,” he said.

The deputy said every party linked to the explosion should be punished.

“We should gather all information that reveals what happened and hold those who destroyed Beirut accountable,” Abillama added.

More than five months after the blast, little light has been shed on the circumstances that led to Lebanon's worst peacetime disaster, which is widely blamed on decades of negligence and corruption by the country's ruling elite.

The slow pace of the investigation has sparked outrage at home and fueled distrust among international donors, whose support is much needed if Lebanon is to stand a chance of surviving its deepest economic crisis in decades.



Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
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Uncertain Future for the PFLP-GC in Post-Assad Syria

Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 
Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Damascus on April 18 (AP) 

The brief detention of Talal Naji, Secretary-General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command (PFLP-GC), by Syrian authorities has renewed scrutiny over the status of Palestinian factions still operating in Syria, particularly those that aligned with the former Assad regime.

Naji’s arrest and swift release come amid a major political realignment following the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024. Once one of the most active and heavily armed Palestinian groups in Syria, the PFLP-GC now faces an uncertain future, along with other factions that were long tolerated—or even supported—under Assad’s rule.

A well-informed Palestinian source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the new Syrian administration has appointed a figure known as Abu Abdul Rahman al-Shami to oversee the file of Palestinian factions. Since assuming the role, al-Shami has convened multiple meetings with faction representatives, including regular attendees from the PFLP-GC, to discuss the fate of their fighters, weapons, property, and military infrastructure.

According to the source, al-Shami has made it clear that the new government intends to hold accountable any individuals or groups implicated in crimes against Syrian civilians during the civil war. Palestinian factions have been instructed to surrender all weapons and military equipment, and to limit their activities to humanitarian and relief work. The PFLP-GC, the source said, has largely complied.

Despite the fall of the Assad regime, Naji and much of the PFLP-GC’s second- and third-tier leadership have remained in Syria. Its offices in Damascus reportedly continue to operate, though under heightened scrutiny. Other faction leaders, however, have fled. Among them are Khaled Abdul Majid (Popular Struggle Front), Ziyad al-Saghir (Fatah–Intifada), Mohammad al-Saeed (Liwa al-Quds), and Saed Abdel Al (Free Palestine Movement). Most are believed to have sought refuge in Lebanon.

Sources confirmed that several PFLP-GC fighters have been detained in recent weeks in connection with alleged war crimes committed during their cooperation with Assad’s forces. The Syrian government has also moved to seize faction offices and military installations across the country, including properties belonging to Fatah–Intifada, the Free Palestine Movement, and the Sa’iqa Forces. Sa’iqa’s leader, Mohammad Qais, remains in Syria.

In a further blow, authorities have reportedly frozen bank accounts belonging to some Palestinian factions, both in state and private banks, although it remains unclear whether the PFLP-GC is among them.

Additionally, it is widely believed that the PFLP-GC has handed over its military training camps, which were previously spread across Damascus countryside, Daraa, Aleppo, and Suwayda. “The situation is extremely sensitive, and everyone is anxious,” one Palestinian source told Asharq Al-Awsat. “It’s likely they’ve surrendered those sites.”

The sense of unease deepened last month when Syrian authorities detained two senior Islamic Jihad officials in Damascus: Khaled Khaled, head of the group’s Syria bureau, and Abu Ali Yasser, its chief organizational officer. Both remain in custody, and no official charges have been announced.

The current atmosphere of fear and uncertainty has driven faction leaders to avoid public comment. Most now insist on anonymity when speaking to local or international media.

Before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, Syria hosted more than a dozen Palestinian factions. As the conflict escalated, the Assad regime encouraged the formation of new pro-regime groups, composed largely of Palestinian refugees, to fight alongside its forces.