Samples from toxic barrels sent abroad from Lebanon for tests

Lebanese Minister of Environment Akram Shuhayib announced on August 25 that samples from barrels in Tripoli suspected of containing toxic substances have been sent abroad for tests.

"The results will come out in approximately two months," he told reporters and he said also that it was wrong to speculate on the nature of the barrels when only a scientific analysis can reveal their content.

This case is an old one but has been reopened, the first test showed that there were no dangerous substances in the barrels, but they were sent back to France in 1995.

But on June 11, 1997 the Environment Ministry appointed specialists to examine barrels found in the same area at Naher Abu Ali in Tripoli.

They issued a report saying that there could be barrels buried there that resembled those found in 1994, he said.