Lebanese authorities have dismissed allegations in a report by Britain's Telegraph newspaper that the Rafic Hariri International Airport is being used to store weapons. Reuters
Lebanese authorities have dismissed allegations in a report by Britain's Telegraph newspaper that the Rafic Hariri International Airport is being used to store weapons. Reuters

Lebanon denies UK newspaper report of weapons stockpile at Beirut airport



Lebanon's caretaker Transport Minister Ali Hamieh has denied a report published by UK newspaper The Telegraph that the Lebanese militia Hezbollah was smuggling in and stockpiling weapons at Beirut-Rafic Hariri International Airport.

“This report defames the reputation of the Beirut airport and is completely false and not based in fact,” he said at press conference hours after The Telegraph published the report on Sunday.

The report, which cited anonymous “whistleblowers” working at the airport, said that Hezbollah had stored a large cache of Iranian weapons at the airport.

“It is a ridiculous article. I wish the newspaper had used a source at the British Ministry of Transport, which visited the airport on January 22, 2024 and inspected all its departments,” Mr Hamieh said.

The minister added that he and caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati were in the process of raising a lawsuit against the newspaper.

The sources quoted by The Telegraph said the airport had been receiving “unusually big boxes” from Iran but admitted they could not see what was inside as they were forbidden from opening them.

It was not made clear in the report how it was known the boxes contained weapons.

Mr Hamieh dismissed the claim, saying that only personnel from Lebanon’s Customs authority were mandated to inspect such packages.

The Telegraph’s article also originally cited an anonymous security source from airlines' trade association, the International Air Transport Association as saying it had been aware of the stockpiling of weapons for years and that it would ideally “close the airport and have all the weapons and explosives removed”.

The newspaper later made a correction to the story that changed the attribution to a “security source at a major international aviation body”.

Mr Hamieh received an email from IATA during his press conference, which he read out.

“To whom it may concern. It has come to our attention that a recent Telegraph newspaper article includes a quote attributed to an unnamed IATA source,” the email said.

“This quote is completely false and misattributed and IATA has not made and will not make any comment on the situation at Beirut's international airport.”

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Director: Mohammed Saeed Harib

Stars: Shadi Alfons,  Marwan Abdullah, Doaa Mostafa Ragab 

Two stars out of five 

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

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2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final

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The General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments

The site has an e-donation service accepting debit card, credit card or e-Dirham, an electronic payment tool developed by the Ministry of Finance and First Abu Dhabi Bank.

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Those who travel on Emirates have undoubtedly seen the little donation envelopes in the seat pockets. But the foundation also accepts donations online and in the form of Skywards Miles. Donated miles are used to sponsor travel for doctors, surgeons, engineers and other professionals volunteering on humanitarian missions around the world.

Emirates Red Crescent

On the Emirates Red Crescent website you can choose between 35 different purposes for your donation, such as providing food for fasters, supporting debtors and contributing to a refugee women fund. It also has a list of bank accounts for each donation type.

Gulf for Good

Gulf for Good raises funds for partner charity projects through challenges, like climbing Kilimanjaro and cycling through Thailand. This year’s projects are in partnership with Street Child Nepal, Larchfield Kids, the Foundation for African Empowerment and SOS Children's Villages. Since 2001, the organisation has raised more than $3.5 million (Dh12.8m) in support of over 50 children’s charities.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum launched the Noor Dubai Foundation a decade ago with the aim of eliminating all forms of preventable blindness globally. You can donate Dh50 to support mobile eye camps by texting the word “Noor” to 4565 (Etisalat) or 4849 (du).

NBA Finals so far

(Toronto lead 3-1 in best-of-seven series_

Game 1 Raptors 118 Warriors 109

Game 2 Raptors 104 Warriors 109

Game 3 Warriors 109 Raptors 123

Game 4 Warriors 92 Raptors 105

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Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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About Okadoc

Date started: Okadoc, 2018

Founder/CEO: Fodhil Benturquia

Based: Dubai, UAE

Sector: Healthcare

Size: (employees/revenue) 40 staff; undisclosed revenues recording “double-digit” monthly growth

Funding stage: Series B fundraising round to conclude in February

Investors: Undisclosed

Updated: June 24, 2024, 7:14 AM