Lebanon's president rejects global probe into blast

Lebanese President Michel Aoun said Friday there were two possibilities behind this week's devastating explosion in Beirut - either negligence or an "external attack" by a missile or a bomb.

He rejected an international investigation into the blast, saying this would delay justice.

Aoun said Friday that he asked France for aerial images to see if there were warplanes or missiles in the air at the time of the blast, which destroyed the city's port area and killed more than 150 people.

Authorities have said they believe the explosion happened when fire touched off 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port since it was taken from an impounded ship in 2013.

The cause of the initial fire is not known.

Aoun told journalists that he was told about the ammonium nitrate last month, and had "immediately ordered" something to be done about it.

He did not elaborate, but said previous Lebanese governments had also received warnings about the material.