U.S. Ambassador Meets Diab, Says 'Incidents of Violence' Deeply Concerning

U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Dorothy Shea held talks Tuesday at the Grand Serail with Prime Minister Hassan Diab, amid a new and fierce wave of anti-government protests in the country.

“The frustration of the Lebanese people over the economic crisis is understandable, and the demands of protesters are justified. But incidents of violence, threats, and destruction of property are deeply concerning, and must stop,” Shea said in a tweet after the meeting.

“We encourage peaceful conduct and restraint by all, as well as continued vigilance in social distancing in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic,” she added.

Hundreds of protesters in the northern city of Tripoli set fire Tuesday to several banks and two police vehicles and hurled stones at soldiers who responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and batons in renewed clashes triggered by an economic crisis spiraling out of control amid a weeks-long virus lockdown.

The clashes got underway in the afternoon hours after a tense funeral was held for a 27-year-old man killed during riots overnight in Tripoli.

Tripoli is in one of the most neglected and poorest regions in Lebanon, and there were concerns the confrontations would escalate to wider chaos.

The violence is a reflection of the rising poverty and despair gripping the country amid a crippling financial crisis that has worsened since October, when nationwide protests against a corrupt political class broke out. A lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus has further aggravated the crisis, throwing tens of thousands more people out of work.

The national currency has lost more than 50% of its value, and banks have imposed crippling capital controls amid a liquidity crunch. But it appeared to be in a free fall over the last few days, selling as low as 4,000 pounds to the dollar, down from a fixed peg of 1,500 pounds to the dollar in place for 30 years.