Explosives expert claims Beirut explosion was caused by burning military missiles - not ammonium nitrate

An explosives expert has claimed the Beirut blast was caused by burning military missiles - not ammonium nitrate.

Danilo Coppe, 56 and from Parmesan in Italy, is one of the country's leading explosive experts.

He believes the August 4 blast, which killed 160 people, wounded 6,000 and destroyed 300,000 homes, was not caused by ammonium nitrate because the colour of the cloud was orange.

The explosives expert, nicknamed Mr. Dynamite, explained that when ammonium nitrate detonates, it generates an unmistakable yellow cloud.

But videos of the explosion show orange plumes of smoke, Mr Coppe told Corriere.  

'There should have been a catalyst, because otherwise it wouldn't all have exploded together.

'You can clearly see a brick orange column tending to bright red, typical of lithium participation. Which in the form of lithium-metal is the propellant for military missiles. I think there were armaments there,' he said.

Mr Coppe explained that he thought there was a first, larger explosion, which may have started a fire where the ammunition was stored.

He claimed that this would have then spread to 'where there was some high explosive contained in rockets or missiles'.

The explosion was believed to be a fifth of the size of Hiroshima was so enormous that it altered the shape of not only of Beirut's skyline but even of its Mediterranean coastline.

His claims come as the personal bodyguard of top Lebanese official Nabih Berry was seen firing rounds at protesters as fury over the Beirut explosion threatens to spark a revolution.

Sporting jeans and a black top, the bodyguard pointed a firearm at swarms of demonstrators yesterday afternoon and shot rounds over their heads.  

Berri, 82, is the leader of the biggest Shi'a faction in the parliament, and is backed by Hezbollah.  

His portrait was last week hung on the gallows as protesters demonstrated against the political leadership they blame for the explosion.

  Yesterday Iran said that countries should refrain from politicising the massive blast in and urged the US to lift sanctions against Lebanon.

'The blast should not be used as an excuse for political aims ... the cause of the blast should be investigated carefully,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi told a televised news conference.

Iran backs Hezbollah, the armed Shi'ite Muslim group that is among Lebanon's most powerful political forces, which Washington considers a terrorist group and penalises with sanctions.