The Investigation Bureau of Taiwan's Ministry of Justice has concluded that "no Taiwanese manufacturer" was involved in the explosion of hundreds of pagers in Lebanon in mid-September, officials said.
In a statement, the judicial body said that the island company Gold Apollo, whose logo appeared on the detonated devices, did not manufacture the AR-924 search engine model involved in the incident, but that it was developed and produced abroad by Frontier Group Entity (FGE).
“This group signed a memorandum of understanding for commercial cooperation, obtaining permission from Gold Apollo to label the products with its brand. Gold Apollo only tested an initial sample of the AR-924 model without explosive function and did not provide technical advice, materials or after-sales service,” the official text noted.
“In addition, Taiwanese customs documents do not show exports of the AR-924 model to Lebanon, and no evidence was found linking Taiwanese manufacturers to the explosion,” the Bureau of Investigation added, without providing further details on FGE’s country of origin or business activities.
The Shilin District Prosecutor's Office, the judicial body in charge of the investigation in Taiwan, has therefore decided to close the case after finding no evidence of any crimes or illegal activities by Taiwanese companies or individuals, state news agency CNA reported.
At the end of September, two simultaneous explosions of pagers and wireless communication devices caused dozens of deaths and more than 3.000 injuries in Lebanon, in an attack attributed to Israel and which targeted members of the Lebanese Shiite terrorist group Hezbollah. EFE and Aurora
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