Lebanon: Fires at Beirut Silos Spark Memory of Deadly Port Blast

A view shows fire in Beirut grain silos damaged in the August 2020 port blast in Beirut, Lebanon, July 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Emilie Madi)
A view shows fire in Beirut grain silos damaged in the August 2020 port blast in Beirut, Lebanon, July 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Emilie Madi)
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Lebanon: Fires at Beirut Silos Spark Memory of Deadly Port Blast

A view shows fire in Beirut grain silos damaged in the August 2020 port blast in Beirut, Lebanon, July 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Emilie Madi)
A view shows fire in Beirut grain silos damaged in the August 2020 port blast in Beirut, Lebanon, July 13, 2022. (REUTERS/Emilie Madi)

Fires burning for days at Beirut's port, severely damaged in 2020 by an enormous explosion, have reignited trauma among Lebanese gearing up to mark the deadly blast's anniversary.

On August 4, Lebanon will mark two years since the explosion that killed more than 200 people. It was caused by a stockpile of haphazardly stored ammonium nitrate fertilizer catching fire, AFP said.

The current fires at the port's grain silos -- at risk of collapse due to the earlier damage -- ignited at the start of the month due to fermentation of remaining grain stocks along with rising Summer temperatures.

The fires have effectively turned parts of the silos into furnaces, with flames and fumes visible from miles away.

"When we see it, we are reminded of the tragedy that took place on August 4" 2020, said Kayan Tlais, who lost his brother in the explosion.

"It's a very disturbing sight and there is a sense of pain," he told AFP, the fires flaring behind him.

The fires do not aggravate the existing risk of the silos collapsing over the short-term, authorities and experts said.

Attempts to douse them -- by sea, land or air -- are more likely to cause the silos to collapse than the fires themselves, according to outgoing economy minister Amin Salam who toured the port on Thursday.

The government is "studying the best way to treat the situation without resorting to haphazard decisions or demolition," he told reporters.

The government in April ordered the demolition of the silos due to safety risks, but that move has since been suspended amid objections, including from relatives of blast victims who want the silos preserved as a memorial site.

Salam said that authorities were moving "slowly" to avoid mistakes, but also warned of potential long-term dangers.

"If the fires continue, sooner or later, they will consume the grains and empty the silos of their contents, which could cause partial collapse," especially of the most damaged block, he said.

- 'Extinguish themselves' -
Assaad Haddad, the general manager of the port's grain silos, said the fires were not generating high enough temperatures to cause structural damage nor were they emitting toxic fumes.

"This is why we are taking our time to respond," Haddad said.

The fires at the silos are not the first of their kind and will likely not be the last as long as grain remains.

"The fires will extinguish themselves when the feedstock runs out," said Mohamad Abiad, senior advisor for the minister of environment.

"The best thing is to let it burn," he said, noting that dousing in water would only make the grains more humid and accelerate fermentation.

Lara Khatchikian, whose house near the port was destroyed by the 2020 blast, said that the current fires have taken a toll on her and her family.

"Seeing the fire and smelling the smoke is horrible and reignites my family and my neighbors trauma," she said.



Syria’s National Dialogue Conference Is in Flux Amid Pressure for Political Transition 

03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
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Syria’s National Dialogue Conference Is in Flux Amid Pressure for Political Transition 

03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)
03 January 2025, Syria, Damascus: Syrian leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa stands during a meeting at the presidential palace in Damascus. (dpa)

An official with the committee preparing a national dialogue conference in Syria to help chart the country's future said Friday that it has not been decided whether the conference will take place before or after a new government is formed.

The date of the conference has not been set and the timing "is up for discussion by the citizens," Hassan al-Daghim, spokesperson for the committee, told The Associated Press in an interview in Damascus Friday.

"If the transitional government is formed before the national dialogue conference, this is normal," he said. On the other hand, he said, "the caretaker government may be extended until the end of the national dialogue."

The conference will focus on drafting a constitution, the economy, transitional justice, institutional reform and how the authorities deal with Syrians, al-Daghim said. The outcome of the national dialogue will be non-binding recommendations to the country’s new leaders.

"However, these recommendations are not only in the sense of advice and formalities," al-Daghim said. "They are recommendations that the President of the republic is waiting for in order to build on them."

After former President Bashir Assad was toppled in a lightning opposition offensive in December, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main former opposition group now in control of Syria, set up an interim administration comprising mainly of members of its "salvation government" that had ruled in northwestern Syria.

They said at the time that a new government would be formed through an inclusive process by March. In January, former HTS leader Ahmad al-Sharaa was named Syria’s interim president after a meeting of most of the country’s former opposition factions. The groups agreed to dissolve the country's constitution, the former national army, security service and official political parties.

The armed groups present at the meetings also agreed to dissolve themselves and for their members to be absorbed into the new national army and security forces. Notably absent was the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which holds sway in northeastern Syria.

There has been international pressure for al-Sharaa to follow through on promises of an inclusive political transition. UN special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said this week that formation of a "new inclusive government" by March 1 could help determine whether Western sanctions are lifted as the country rebuilds.

Al-Daghim said the decisions taken in the meeting of former opposition factions in January dealt with "security issues that concern the life of every citizen" and "these sensitive issues could not be postponed" to wait for an inclusive process.

In recent weeks, the preparatory committee has been holding meetings in different parts of Syria to get input ahead of the main conference. Al-Daghim said that in those meetings, the committee had heard a broad consensus on the need for "transitional justice and unity of the country."

"There was a great rejection of the issue of quotas, cantons, federalization or anything like this," he said.

But he said there was "disagreement on the order of priorities." In the coastal cities of Latakia and Tartous, for instance, many were concerned about the low salaries paid to government workers, while in Idlib and suburbs of Damascus that saw vast destruction during nearly 14 years of civil war, reconstruction was the priority.

The number of participants to be invited to the national conference has not yet been determined and may range from 400 to 1,000, al-Daghim said, and could include religious leaders, academics, artists, politicians and members of civil society, including some of the millions of Syrians displaced outside the country.

The committee has said that the dialogue would include members of all of Syria's communities, but that people affiliated with Assad's government and armed groups that refuse to dissolve and join the national army -- chief among them the SDF -- would not be invited.

Al-Daghim said Syria's Kurds would be part of the conference even if the SDF is not.

"The Kurds are a component of the people and founders of the Syrian state," he said. "They are Syrians wherever they are."