Army tries to unblock roads; scuffles with demonstrators

Lebanese army troops scuffled with demonstrators yesterday as they struggled to unblock main roads, after economic reforms proposed by the government failed to stem a historic wave protests against the political elite.

Hundreds of thousands of people have flooded the streets for nearly a week, furious at a political class they accuse of pushing the economy to the point of collapse. Banks were closed for a fifth working day. Schools remained shut. Many highways were impassable.

Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri’s government announced an emergency reform package on Monday, to try to defuse the anger of protesters demanding the government resigns.

A Reuters witness said scores of young men and women in Sidon, 45km south of Beirut, had blocked the highway at an entrance of the city by sitting on the ground from the early hours.

Use of force

After failing to persuade protesters to open the road, which leads to and from the capital, soldiers beat some of them and the Red Cross took the injured to hospital, the witness said. That section of the highway reopened. A security source said the army’s decision was still to refrain from using any force.

Meanwhile, Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al Rai said that reform measures enacted to calm nationwide protests were a good “first step” but that a new cabinet was required to implement them.

In a televised speech Rai said he supported the protests and urged them to remain peaceful.