Groups attack protest camp in central Beirut

Police fire tear gas, rubber bullets at crowds

BEIRUT — Security forces fired rubber bullets and tear gas while clashing with anti-government protesters and with men who tried to attack the protest camp in Beirut on Saturday.

The violence was some of the worst in the capital since demonstrations began two months ago. The clashes continued into the early morning Sunday as riot police lobbed tear gas and used water cannons to disperse protesters who pelted them with stones.

The trouble started when dozens of men, some wearing masks, pelted security forces with stones and threw firecrackers at them on one edge of the protest camp. As clashes continued, riot police fired intense volleys of tear gas,.

The initially limited confrontation at one edge of the protest camp spread into protracted street clashes that focused on anti-government protesters. For the first time in Beirut, anti-riot police fired rubber bullets at protesters.

It was not clear what caused the harsh crackdown meted out against the anti-government protesters following the earlier clashes with those who attacked the protest camp.

The tension came only two days before the president meets with parliamentary blocs to name a prime minister. Earlier consultations were postponed amid the failure of rival political groups to agree on a new head of government.

Protesters have been calling for a new government unaffiliated with establishment political parties. The government headed by former Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigned Oct. 29, two weeks after the nationwide protests began.

The Red Cross and the Lebanese Civil Defense said at least 46 people were injured and transported to hospitals Saturday.

The violence Saturday started when young men attacked the epicenter of anti-government protests. The attackers approached the protest camp in central Beirut from a neighborhood known as a stronghold for supporters of the Shiite Amal and Hezbollah groups.

Hussein Malla The Associated Press Supporters of the Shiite Hezbollah and Amal Movement groups launch firecrackers at police officers as they try to attack protesters Saturday in downtown Beirut.