Businessmen with ties to Assad linked to Beirut port blast cargo

Revelations about London company reinforce suspicions that Beirut, and not Mozambique, was intended destination of ammonium nitrate

The company used to ship a huge stockpile of ammonium nitrate to Beirut port, where it caused a devastating explosion last August, has been linked to three influential businessmen with ties to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a new investigation has found.

The revelations about Savaro Limited - a London shelf company that was deregistered at Companies House on Tuesday - have amplified suspicions that Beirut had always been the cargo's intended destination, and not Mozambique, its official endpoint.