Page 10 - aruba-today-20200120

A10 WORLD NEWS
Monday 20 January 2020
Violence escalates in Beirut as protesters clash with police

Associated Press ing another delay among
BEIRUT (AP) — Security the fractious political lead-
forces fired tear gas, wa- ers.
ter cannons and rubber The protests, which began
bullets in clashes Sunday in October, took a violent
with hundreds of anti-gov- turn last week as popular
ernment protesters outside frustration began to rise.
Lebanon's Parliament, as Demonstrators say the po-
violence continued to es- litical elite has ignored their
calate in a week of rioting. calls for forming an inde-
At least 114 people were pendent government to
injured in the protests, ac- tackle the deepening crisis.
cording to the Red Cross "We don't accept the gov-
and the Lebanese Civil De- ernment the way they are
fense teams, with 47 taken forming it. They are using
to hospitals for treatment. the old method to form the
Most of the wounds were government ... so it's not
from rubber bullets, some in acceptable," said protest-
the face and upper body, er Jil Samaha. "We want a
an Associated Press report- different way of forming a
er said. Among the injured government."
from rubber bullets were Demonstrators have been
at least two journalists, in- Riot police fire rubber bullets against the anti-government protesters, during ongoing protests rallying against those who
cluding one from the local against the political elites who have ruled the country for decades, in Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, have held power since
TV station Al-Jadeed news Jan. 19, 2020. the end of the 1975-90 civil
who was struck in the hand. Associated Press war. They blame politicians
Demonstrators threw rocks for widespread corruption
and other projectiles and lice. Hundreds more, some out minutes later, and the ed in hospitals, including a and mismanagement in a
even shot a stream of fire chanting "Revolution," clashes resumed with secu- protester with an eye injury, country that has accumu-
from ignited aerosol cans. gathered farther down the rity forces barricaded be- as well as members of the lated one of the largest
Security forces responded blocked street that leads hind the barriers. security forces. Lebanon's debt ratios in the world.
with tear gas and water to the Parliament in central By late Sunday night, secu- Internal Security Forces said Panic and anger have
cannons before turning to Beirut. rity forces and army troops 142 of its members were gripped the public as the
rubber bullets to try to dis- Army troops were de- were deployed in large injured, including seven Lebanese pound, pegged
perse the crowds. A few ployed to the area briefly, formations to the blocked officers, some with serious to the dollar for more than
protesters tried to climb and the violence stopped streets. Amid a downpour concussions. two decades, plummeted
metal barriers separat- as protesters cheered the of rain and the advance of Lawyers defending protest- in value. It lost more than
ing them from the riot po- troops. But the army pulled security forces, protesters ers said 43 were arrested 60% of its value in recent
retreated and the situation Saturday, including two mi- weeks on the black market.
calmed in central Beirut. nors. They said 11 were re- The economy has seen no
Army patrols briefly roamed leased the same day, and growth and flows of foreign
the streets to prevent pro- the other 32 were released currency dried up in the
testers from returning to Sunday, pending investiga- already heavily indebted
outside the Parliament. tion. Most of the detainees country that relies on im-
During the rioting, protest- were beaten while in cus- ports for most basic goods.
ers smashed the windows tody, the lawyers added. Protesters targeted com-
of two stores affiliated with The military made a show mercial banks, which have
an outgoing minister from of force Sunday, with imposed informal capital
the government they had large numbers deployed controls, limiting the with-
accused of corruption. In in downtown Beirut and in drawal of dollars and for-
one of the stores, a tele- southern Lebanon, patrol- eign transfers.
communication company, ling ahead of the rallies. Interior Minister Raya El
the protesters smashed the Riot police were in the front Hassan on Saturday con-
windows and trashed the line guarding the Parlia- demned the attacks on
contents of the store as se- ment. security forces and public
curity alarms blared. The clashes took place and private property as "to-
Security forces reinforced amid a rapidly worsening tally unacceptable."
the metal barriers surround- financial crisis and an on- However, Human Rights
ing the Parliament build- going impasse over the Watch described the re-
ing earlier in the day, after formation of a new govern- sponse by the security forc-
the worst night of violence ment. Prime Minister Saad es as "brutal," and called
since the unrest erupted Hariri and the rest of the for an urgent end to a "cul-
several months ago. government resigned in ture of impunity" for police
There were nine hours of late October. Prime Minis- abuse.
street battles with security ter-designate Hassan Diab "There was no justification
forces Saturday as some had been expected to an- for the brutal use of force
protesters tried to scale the nounce a new 18-member unleashed by Lebanon's
barriers. Those clashes left Cabinet on Sunday after riot police against largely
at least 377 people injured, meeting with President Mi- peaceful demonstrators in
the Red Cross and the Leb- chel Aoun, but there was downtown Beirut," said Mi-
anese Civil Defense said. no announcement after a chael Page, deputy Middle
More than 120 were treat- 90-minute meeting, signal- East director at HRW.q