Nasrallah: Israel, US trying to exploit Lebanese protests
BEIRUT (Reuters) – Protesters poured back onto streets and squares across Lebanon on Saturday, despite army efforts to unblock roads, with no end in sight to a crisis that has crippled the country for 10 days and kept banks closed.
Army and security commanders met to plan ways to reopen main arteries to get traffic flowing again while “safeguarding the safety of protesters,” the military said in a statement. But, people have closed routes with barriers, sit-ins and mass gatherings demanding that the government resign.
On Friday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that a power vacuum could tip the country into civil war, suggesting that the United States and Israel were seeking to exploit an unprecedented wave of demonstrations to provoke conflict.
Nasrallah, whose movement is part of Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri’s coalition government, urged his followers to stay away from the protests after they clashed with demonstrators in Beirut.
The heavily armed Shi’ite group is widely seen as the most powerful player in Lebanon and is part of an Iranian-led regional alliance that is in conflict with US-allied
Gulf Arab states that have political allies in the country.
Nasrallah praised the protest movement for forcing the government to agree to a state budget without new taxes and “unprecedented” reforms, including draft laws to lift banking secrecy, recover looted wealth and fight corruption.
But, he also said the demonstrations that began spontaneously had been exploited by regional and international foes.
He reiterated Hezbollah’s rejection of the resignation of the Hariri government and any move to topple Hezbollah’s Christian ally, President Michel Aoun, saying this would leave a void.
“In view of the difficult financial, economic and living situation in the country, in view of security and political tensions that are prevailing in the region... a vacuum will lead to chaos, to collapse,” Nasrallah said.
He said if Lebanon remained shut down by the protests, people – including the army – would not get their wages and the country would be plunged into complete chaos.
“I am afraid that there are those who want to take our country and to generate social, security, political tensions and to take it to civil war,” Nasrallah said. “God willing nothing like this will happen... but I tell you there is information and doubts about this matter.”
After Nasrallah spoke, Hezbollah supporters waving the group’s yellow flag took to the streets of the southern suburbs of Beirut, the group’s stronghold. Other supporters rode in a convoy along the border with Israel.
“They’re trying to scare us with war,” said physiotherapist Bilal al Baba, 28, demonstrating in central Beirut. “But, they are the generation of war, we are an educated generation and know how to get along with one another.”
Nasrallah urged protesters to
accept Aoun’s invitation for dialogue. Aoun has suggested a cabinet reshuffle was on the table.
Lebanon has been swept by 10 days of protests against a political class accused of corruption, mismanagement of state finances and pushing the country toward an economic collapse unseen since the 1975-90 civil war.
Banks, schools and many businesses have shut their doors.
“We won’t leave the streets because this is the only card that people can pressure with,” Yehya al-Tannir, an actor protesting at a makeshift barricade on a main bridge in the capital Beirut. “We won’t leave until our demands are met.”
As night fell on Saturday, protesters flooded streets across the country amid patriotic music, Lebanese flags and protest banners.
Troops and riot police deployed to main roads across Lebanon. Forces reopened some roads for a few hours on Saturday morning before people gathered once again.
Near the northern city of Tripoli, the Lebanese army said it fired into the air during a disturbance with protesters. Five soldiers and a number of civilians were injured, it said.
On a main bridge in Beirut, riot police scuffled with protesters who were sitting on the ground to keep it closed.
Protesters resisted efforts earlier this week to open some roads, including along a main southnorth highway.
Banks will stay closed until life returns to normal and will pay month-end salaries through ATMs, the Association of Banks in Lebanon has said.
It has held crisis meetings in recent days amid growing fears that a rush on the banks when they reopen could deplete dwindling foreign currency deposits.
The protests have continued to grip Lebanon, despite the government announcing an emergency reform package this week that failed to defuse anger. It has also yet to reassure foreign donors to
unlock the billions in badly needed aid that they have pledged.
The size and geographic reach of the protests have been extraordinary in a country where political movements have long been divided along sectarian lines and struggle to draw nationwide appeal.
Lebanon has one of the world’s highest levels of government debt as a share of economic output.
In the southern coastal city of Saida, some shops opened their doors after days of closure.
“Shopkeepers are opening up to see if they can get things moving,” said protester Hoda Hafez. “The end of the month is near, people have rents to pay. But in the end, they will all take part and come down to the (protest) square.” •