Clashes between Lebanese anti-government protesters and law enforcement have resumed near the parliament building in the capital Beirut on Saturday, with police resorting to tear gas and water canons, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene
BEIRUT (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th January, 2020) Clashes between Lebanese anti-government protesters and law enforcement have resumed near the parliament building in the capital Beirut on Saturday, with police resorting to tear gas and water canons, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the scene.
Protesters from across Lebanon flocked to Beirut earlier in the day to attend the "Saturday of outrage" rally near the parliament building against economic mismanagement and weakening national currency.
Clashes with law enforcement ensued as protesters were throwing stones and metal rods at officers and eventually attempted to storm the fences of the parliament building. Police used tear gas and water canons in response, the Sputnik correspondent reported.
Mass protests in Lebanon began in October amid a crippling economic crisis. People have been demanding urgent reforms to end the deepening liquidity crisis, which the country's president, Michel Aoun, has blamed on sanctions. The resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri's government last fall failed to remove people from the streets.
In absence of a new cabinet ever since, the Lebanese watch their national currency continue plummeting against the US dollar. Black markets currently value $1 at 2,400 Lebanese pounds, while the central bank maintains the pre-crisis rate of 1:1,515. Bank transfers are almost completely frozen, including to foreign accounts, and cash withdrawals are limited with $1,000 per week.
