UPDATES WITH TAIWAN FOREIGN, ECONOMIC MINISTRIES STATEMENTS
By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA) - A Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo on Wednesday denied making pager devices that exploded in Lebanon.
In a statement, the company said Apollo Gold Corporation has established a long-term private label authorization and regional agency cooperation with BAC company, which has a license to use its brand.
"According to the agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in specific regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are entirely handled by BAC," it said.
The BAC Consulting KFT is based in Budapest, the capital of Hungary.
"Regarding the recent media reports about the AR-924 pager, we clarify that this model is produced and sold by BAC. We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product," it further said.
Earlier, the company founder Hsu Ching-kuang also denied any involvement of his company in making of the said pager.
Meanwhile, Taiwan's Economic Affairs Ministry said there is no record that Gold Apollo has exported its products in recent years to Lebanon.
"Gold Apollo manufactures and assembles its products in Taiwan, and the destinations of the exported products are mainly Europe and North America," Focus Taiwan website quoted the ministry as saying.
The ministry further added that pagers made in Taiwan are only capable of receiving signals and their batteries could not cause any fatal explosions.
The ministry record shows that Gold Apollo exported 260,000 sets of pagers between 2022 and August 2024 and this year they exported 40,929 mainly to Europe and North America.
The Israeli intelligence agency Mossad planted explosives in the batteries of pager devices that detonated Tuesday in Lebanon, killing 12 people and injuring around 2,750 others, including 200 in critical condition, according to Sky News Arabia channel.
The New York Times, citing officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pagers the Lebanese group ordered from Gold Apollo in Taiwan had been tampered with before arriving in Lebanon.
*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid