Naharnet

Mass Demos Continue in Tripoli, Sidon, Beirut as Tear Gas Fired in Akkar

Mass anti-corruption demonstrations continued Wednesday in the northern city of Tripoli and the southern city of Sidon, hours after blocked roads were re-opened across Lebanon in the wake of the government’s resignation.

Some protesters in Tripoli’s al-Nour Square called for the fall of the president, the parliament speaker and the members of parliament. MTV meanwhile said that some roads will be blocked at night in the city.

A mass demo was meanwhile staged in Sidon, with protesters roaming the city’s streets and re-blocking the Elia intersection. The Lebanese Red Cross later reported that three people were injured in a clash at the demo and that it was sending additional crews.

In Akkar, the army fired tear gas to disperse protesters blocking the road in the town of al-Abdeh and minor injuries were reported.

Protesters meanwhile blocked the international highway linking Tripoli and Minieh to al-Abdeh at the al-Beddawi point.

In Beirut, dozens of protesters flocked to the Riad al-Solh Square and Martyrs Square. The National News Agency said the protesters were later joined by some supporters of caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri.

Hariri’s supporters had earlier roamed Beirut’s streets on motorcycles in support of him.

The army was meanwhile trying to reopen roads blocked by protesters in the Bekaa towns of Saadnayel, Taalabaya, Barelias, Qab Elias and al-Marj

Major roads across Lebanon were reopened Wednesday following the government's resignation but protesters have vowed to keep pushing for deeper change.

Euphoric protesters experiencing a rare moment of national unity have pilloried politicians of all parties, calling for better public services, an end to rampant corruption and a complete overhaul of sectarian-based politics.

When Prime Minister Saad Hariri appeared on television to announce his resignation, crowds erupted into celebrations across the country but warned that the government's fall was only one of their demands.

As roads reopened, the education ministry called on schools and universities to resume classes on Thursday morning. Banks are set to open on Friday.

Lebanon's economy, crippled by ballooning public debt, has been sliding to the brink of collapse in recent months.

Hariri announced a much-delayed reform package last week in a bid to address some of the protesters' demands and the requirements for a huge foreign assistance program to be unlocked.

Some protesters want fresh elections to be organized, a move that would further delay the implementation of those reforms.

Source: Naharnet


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