Traffic Makes Beirut Return on Day 13 of Protest Lockdown

More cars plied Beirut's roads Tuesday skirting barrages erected by protesters on the 13th day of anti-graft demonstrations that have left much of Lebanon in lockdown, AFP reporters said.

An unprecedented cross-sectarian movement has brought major cities across Lebanon to a standstill since October 17, as protesters keep up demands for a complete overhaul of the political system.

Banks and schools have remained closed and the normally congested main arteries in Beirut blocked by protesters -- some camped out on sofas at a main crossroads in the centre of the city.

After several days on which the roads were almost deserted of traffic, AFP reporters saw less protesters on Tuesday, although key routes remained closed.

"The numbers are down, not because we no longer want to protest, but because after 13 days people are starting to get tired," Guy Younes, a 29-year-old civil engineer blocking a street in the Saifi district, told AFP.

"Before we used to go down for 20 hours straight. Now we take it in turns," he said.

The leaderless movement, made up mostly of young people born after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, wants "incompetent" politicians across the spectrum to be replaced.

On Monday night, crowds on the central Martyrs' Square appeared thinner than on previous days after heavy rain in the afternoon, though protesters still numbered in their thousands.

Lebanon's political elite has responded with a belated package of economic reforms and appeared willing to reshuffle the government, but protesters have stayed on the streets.

Central bank chief Riad Salame warned Monday that Lebanon was on the verge of economic collapse unless an "immediate solution" could be found to end the protests.

More than a quarter of Lebanon's population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank.