LEBANON NOD TO EMERGENCY POWERS

Beirut, Aug. 13: Lebanon’s parliament on Thursday approved a two-week state of emergency imposed by the government after last week’s deadly port explosion that gives it legal authority to suppress resurgent protests.

Calls had circulated on social media networks for protesters to prevent lawmakers from entering the session — the first since the August 4 blast that ravaged swathes of the capital.

But turnout was too low on Thursday morning, ahead of official visits by French Defence Minister Florence Parly and David Hale, the top career diplomat at the US State Department. Security forces outnumbered the dozen or so demonstrators who had gathered on a street near parliament.

Demonstrators tried to heckle tinted vehicles dashing to the debate but they could not stop it reaching a quorum.

The colossal explosion that killed 171 people and wounded at least 6,500 others has rekindled calls for the ouster of Lebanon’s decades-old political elite, many of whom are former warlords from the 19751990 civil war.

There has been widespread anger against a political leadership which allowed a large shipment of hazardous ammonium nitrate fertiliser to rot for years in a port warehouse despite repeated safety warnings.

An AFP investigation found that up until the day before the deadly blast, officials had exchanged warnings over the cargo, but did nothing despite experts’ fears it could cause a major conflagration.

As he presented his government’s resignation on Monday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab blamed the blast on decades of corruption and official mismanagement.