The series of detonations of these communication terminals, probably booby-trapped, caused the death of at least 39 people and injured several thousand on September 17 and 18.
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Taiwanese investigators questioned two more Gold Apollo employees on Monday in connection with the delivery of explosive-laden communications devices to the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah. Hundreds of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and allied with Palestinian Hamas, exploded across Lebanon on September 17 and 18 in an unprecedented attack that killed at least 39 people and injured nearly 3,000.
“Both men have helped to clarify the matter, which is being thoroughly investigated.”the Taiwanese prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Monday. “Today, the National Security Division was also ordered… to question former or current employees of (Gold Apollo) as witnesses.”added the Shilin District Prosecutors Office in Taipei, where the company is based. Two other representatives of Taiwanese companies had already been questioned in Taiwan on Friday.
According to the New York TimesIsrael had planted explosive materials in a shipment of pagers from Taiwan’s Gold Apollo, citing U.S. and other unnamed officials. But Gold Apollo had pointed the finger at its Hungarian partner BAC, which is allowed to use its brand. “These are not our products (…) from start to finish”its director, Hsu Ching-kuang, told reporters in Taipei on Wednesday.
For its part, the Hungarian government assured that BAC was “a commercial intermediary, without a production or operational site in Hungary”While many intelligence and defense specialists have pointed the finger at Israeli secret services in this affair, the Hebrew state has so far remained silent on the matter.