Taiwan’s Gold Apollo says it did not make pagers used in Lebanon blasts
Police arrive at the Gold Apollo office in Taiwan. — Reuters pic
Wednesday, 18 Sep 2024 1:22 PM MYT
TAIPEI, Sept 18 — Taiwan’s Gold Apollo said today the pagers that were used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday were not made by it but by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand.
At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based 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.
“We only provide brand trademark authorisation and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product,” the statement said.
Hsu earlier said that the firm with the licence was based in Europe but later declined to comment on BAC’s location.
While Hsu was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company.
Hezbollah fighters began using pagers in the belief they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year.
Hsu said did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts.
Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, according to a senior Lebanese security source and another source.
Hsu said Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident.
“We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one,” he said. “This is very embarrassing.” — Reuters
Wednesday, 18 Sep 2024 1:22 PM MYT
TAIPEI, Sept 18 — Taiwan’s Gold Apollo said today the pagers that were used in the detonations in Lebanon on Tuesday were not made by it but by a company called BAC which has a licence to use its brand.
At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday.
Images of destroyed pagers analysed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based 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.
“We only provide brand trademark authorisation and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product,” the statement said.
Hsu earlier said that the firm with the licence was based in Europe but later declined to comment on BAC’s location.
While Hsu was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company.
Hezbollah fighters began using pagers in the belief they would be able to evade Israeli tracking of their locations, two sources familiar with the group’s operations told Reuters this year.
Hsu said did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode.
Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a “security and scientific investigation” into the causes of the blasts.
Israel’s Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before Tuesday’s detonations, according to a senior Lebanese security source and another source.
Hsu said Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident.
“We may not be a large company but we are a responsible one,” he said. “This is very embarrassing.” — Reuters
The pagers were essentially Hezbollah "corporate issued pagers", more so because pagers are now rarely used by most ordinary people.
ReplyDeleteThe thousands injured shows the width and depth of Hezbollah penetration of all levels of Lebanese society. Even the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon !
So the Iranian ambassador is a militant terrorist.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
ReplyDeleteBravo to Israel for a brilliantly conceived and executed anti-terrorist action.
Wow… anti terrorist action exercises by the mfering inhumane Zionists!
DeleteGold Apollo must have supplied the designed drawings & required parts.
ReplyDeleteThe labels attached to the detonated debris indicated that.
To modify a small walkie-talkie with radio controlled responder, the original design drawings r required.
Gold Apollo can't allow to whitewash its sin.