2 weeks Ago By Owen Evans
The Taiwanese pager manufacturer whose branding appeared on remnants of beepers that exploded in Lebanon says that they were manufactured by another company in Hungary. The model of pagers used in detonations in Lebanon was made by Budapest-based BAC Consulting, Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo claimed on Wednesday. It said it had only licensed out its brand to the company and was not involved in the production of the devices.
Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. “The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it,” Gold Apollo founder and president, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters at the company’s offices in the northern Taiwanese city of New Taipei on Wednesday.
The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC. He added that he did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode. While he was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company.
Officials from Taiwan’s economy ministry also visited Gold Apollo. The ministry said in a statement that there was no record of direct pager exports from Taiwan to Lebanon. Ching-kuang also said Gold Apollo was a victim of the incident and planned to sue the licensee.
“We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one,” he said. “This is very embarrassing.” “We are not a big company, but we are a responsible company that cares about our products,” he added.
Among those reported killed on Tuesday was Mahdi Ammar, the son of a Hezbollah-affiliated member of the Lebanese Parliament named Ali Ammar. The Epoch Times could not immediately confirm who had been injured in the pager blasts. Hezbollah has clashed with Israeli forces across the Lebanon–Israel border for months, in a skirmish that has shown signs of escalating into a wider conflict.
In a Tuesday statement, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and his council of ministers described the pager explosions as an act of criminal Israeli aggression and a serious violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty. Mikati said he also reached out to Ammar on Tuesday to express condolences for the death of his son. The Israel Defense Forces declined a request for comment.
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