Protesters Rally, Block Roads as Dollar Soars on Black Market

Anti-government protesters on Tuesday rallied and blocked roads in several Lebanese regions as the U.S. dollar reached the record high of around LBP 4,500 on the black market.

In Tripoli, a protest turned violent outside the house of ex-minister Ashraf Rifi where gunshots were fired after demonstrators tried to storm the guards’ rooms.

The protesters “scuffled with the guards as army troops worked on pushing them away,” the National News Agency said.

Protesters also rallied outside an office belonging to ex-PM Najib Miqati in the city, where they smashed its CCTV cameras and chanted slogans against the rise in prices.

Demonstrators also blocked the highway between Tripoli and Akkar in the Bab al-Tabbaneh and al-Beddawi areas and staged a march in Tripoli.

Residents of Minieh, Deir Amar and al-Beddawi meanwhile rallied outside the Deir Amar power plant in protest at a power outage that has been running since several days.

“They blocked the international highway in both directions outside the power plant, which prompted army troops to intervene to remove them,” NNA said, reporting tensions in the area.

In Beirut, protesters rallied outside parliament before moving to the Hamra area where they blocked the road outside the central bank, denouncing the rise in the dollar exchange rate.

Demonstrations were also staged in the southern city of Sidon as protesters blocked roads in the Bekaa and the Halba road in Akkar.