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Washington:
US President Donald Trump stated Wednesday the lethal Beirut explosion could have been an accident, after elevating eyebrows earlier suggesting it was an assault.
Trump stated it’s nonetheless unclear what occurred, though Lebanese officers have blamed the huge eruption on a poorly secured stockpile of extremely unstable fertilizer ingredient ammonium nitrate.
On Tuesday he stated it appeared to have been attributable to a “bomb of some kind,” citing unnamed US “generals” for the knowledge.
“It looks like a terrible attack,” he stated.
But on Wednesday the US chief stated the query was nonetheless unanswered, as he pledged US assist to Lebanon.
“I can tell you whatever happened, it’s terrible. But they don’t really know what it is. Nobody knows yet,” he stated.
“How can you say accident? Somebody … left some terrible explosive-type devices and things around perhaps. Perhaps it was that. Perhaps it was an attack. I don’t think anybody can say right now.”
“I’ve heard it both ways,” he added.
Trump’s feedback got here after the Pentagon declined to verify his “generals” declare and Defense Secretary Mark Esper supported the accident rationalization for the explosion, which left at the least 113 folks lifeless, together with at the least one American, and hundreds injured.
“I’m still getting information on what happened,” Esper advised the Aspen Security Forum.
“Most believe that it was an accident as reported,” he stated.
Trump stated the United States stands by Lebanon, a longstanding ally within the Middle East however whose highly effective political and paramilitary group Hezbollah is designated a terrorist group by Washington.
“We’re standing with that country. You know, we have a very good relationship with that country, but it is a country under a lot of turmoil and a lot of problems. We stand with them,” he stated.
Earlier Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provided help in a telephone name with Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab, the State Department stated.
Pompeo voiced “our steadfast commitment to assist the Lebanese people as they cope with the aftermath of this terrifying event,” in response to a press release on the decision.
He “further stressed our solidarity with and support for the Lebanese people as they strive for the dignity, prosperity and security they deserve.”
Pompeo later advised a information convention that the United States would unveil measures to assist Lebanon “in the coming days.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV workers and is revealed from a syndicated feed.)
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