More than 200 injured as protesters, security forces clash in Beirut
BEIRUT – Fierce clashes erupted between security forces and Lebanese demonstrators near the parliamentary headquarters in Beirut on Saturday amid a protest against the delay in forming a new government.
The clashes took place when security forces prevented protesters from entering the parliamentary building.
The protesters hurled stones at the security forces, who responded with firing tear gas and water cannon.
The Lebanese Red Crescent said that it transferred 80 wounded people to hospitals in the area, while 140 others were treated at the scene.
The head of the Red Cross, George Kettneh told dpa that “the number includes wounded protesters and police.”
He added that the number of people injured is likely to increase.
Protesters put the number of wounded people at more than 100.
Downtown Beirut looked like a battlefield, with stones, broken traffic signs and felled trees filling the streets.
Protesters used stones to break the windows of banks and set ATM machines on fire.
Several protesters were arrested.
“We call on peaceful protesters to stay away from the site of the rioting for their safety,” the Internal Security Forces said on Twitter.
Dozens of trucks carrying Lebanese soldiers were deployed in downtown Beirut to help security forces restore calm.
“Many times I pledged to protect peaceful demonstrations, and I always stressed the right to demonstrate,” caretaker Interior Minister Raya Hassan said in a tweet.
“But if these demonstra
tions turn into a blatant attack on members of the Internal Security as well as public and private property, it is condemned and totally unacceptable,” Hassan said.
Lebanese President Michel Aoun has called on the ministers of defense and the interior to prevent riots, secure public and private property and impose security.
In a tweet, Aoun also called for protecting peaceful protesters.
Lebanon has been gripped by nationwide protests since Oct. 17, leading to the resignation of Saad Hariri as prime minister.
After a break of several weeks, the reluctance of Lebanese leaders to form a new government and shore up the country’s deteriorating economy has reignited protests.
“We are fed up, we have been protesting peacefully and no one was listening, may be now they’ll listen,” one protester said.
“Revolution, revolution,” chanted one protester as he threw stones at anti-riot police.
On Dec. 19, former education minister and university professor Hassan Diab was designated Lebanon’s new prime minister with the help of the Iranbacked Hezbollah movement and its allies.
Diab has been so far unable to cobble together a government in a bid to extricate Lebanon from its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war.
Lebanon is under pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to impose austerity measures in return for financial support.
The country has one of the biggest public debt ratios in the world, equivalent to about 150% of the gross domestic product.