Lebanon’s PM resigns after Hezbollah gangs attack demonstrators

Lebanon’s prime minister has resigned, bowing to one of the central demands of antigovernment demonstrators shortly after baton-wielding Hezbollah supporters rampaged through the main protest camp in Beirut, torching tents, smashing plastic chairs and chasing protesters.

The protesters later returned to the camp in time to hear the news that prime minister Saad Hariri would step down after hitting a “dead end” in trying to resolve the crisis, which has paralysed the country for nearly two weeks. The protesters cheered the news.

The Hezbollah rampage marked a violent turning point in Lebanon’s protests. Demonstrators have called for the resignation of the government and the overthrow of the political class that has dominated the country since the 1975-90 civil war.

The government is dominated by factions allied with

Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in the country.

Mr Hariri had reluctantly worked with those factions as part of a national unity government that had failed to address an increasingly severe economic and fiscal crisis.

“I tried all this time to find an exit and listen to the voice of the people and protect the country from the security and economic dangers,” Mr Hariri said. “Today, to be honest with you, I have hit a dead end and it is time for a big shock to confront the crisis.”

Aproposedtaxonthewhatsappmessengerserviceignited protests on 17 October, sending hundreds of thousands of people into the streets in the largest demonstrations in more than a decade. The protests soon widened to include other economic issues.

They were largely peaceful, with only occasional scuffles with security forces, but that changed early yesterday, when groups of men began confronting protesters who were blocking roads.

The men initially presented themselves as disgruntled residents frustrated by the country’s paralysis, but they later could be heard chanting slogans of support for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

They then launched an attack on the main protest camp in Beirut where demonstrators have been staying for nearly two weeks. The rallies swell at night, but there were only a few dozen protesters in the square when the Hezbollah supporters arrived.

Soldiers and riot police moved in to separate the groups but were unable to prevent the Hezbollah supporters from storming Martyrs’ Square in central Beirut, the main protest site. Hezbollah supporters lashed out at reporters covering the melee, kicking some of them and trying to grab their cameras.

Mr Nasrallah had criticised the protests last week, accusing foreign powers of trying to drag the country into civil war.