Lebanon’s Leaders Warned in July About Explosives at Port

Lebanese security officials warned the prime minister and president last month that 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate stored in Beirut’s port posed a security risk and could destroy the capital if it exploded, according to documents seen by Reuters and senior security sources. Just over two weeks later, the industrial chemicals went up in a massive blast that obliterated most of the port and swaths of the capital, killed at least 163 people, injured 6,000 and destroyed 6,000 buildings, according to municipal authorities. A report by the General Directorate of State Security on events leading up to the explosion included a reference to a private letter sent to President Michel Aoun and...