The pagers, deemed by Hezbollah to be safer than cellphones, were probably rigged with explosives before they were delivered to Lebanon, experts said.

The company, Gold Apollo, said it had not manufactured the devices, pointing to another company that it said was licensed to use its brand.

Taiwan's Gold Apollo said on Wednesday the pagers used in the detonations in Lebanon had not been 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,