By Kareem Chehayeb -- middleeasteye.net -- The threat that Lebanon’s protest movement would be co-opted by the country’s political elite has loomed large for Lebanese since demonstrations first broke out in October. Those concerns appeared realised on Saturday, as a controversial protest in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square saw supporters of the Kataeb and Lebanese Forces parties facing off against those of Hezbollah and the Amal Movement. Among the crowd, however, were supporters of a man who wears one of the most prominent names in Lebanon, but who has been noticeably absent from the political scene for years: Bahaa Hariri. As the older brother to Saad Hariri, former prime minister and head of the predominantly Sunni Future Movement, Bahaa has kept out of politics almost entirely since the assassination of his father Rafik Hariri in 2005. Since February, however, the construction business magnate has hinted at an interest in returning to politics through the support of a youth forum led by a former member of his family’s party. His return to visibility raises questions about his relationship with Saad, the younger Hariri’s place as Lebanon’s most prominent Sunni politician, and where the loyalties of Saudi Arabia and the UAE lie.

Expanding influence Founded in April 2018, the Beirut-based Political Economic Social Forum is self-described as a collective of civil society actors, creating a space for Lebanese youth to discuss pressing issues and policy-based solutions. The project was founded by Nabil el-Halabi, a lawyer and former member of the Saudi Arabia-backed Future Movement, who also heads the Lebanese Institute for Democracy and Human Rights, a group that has focused heavily on abuses towards Syrian refugees and Islamists. However, over the past year the forum has expanded, with offices opening in Tripoli, Akkar, Sidon, and other Lebanese governorates. El-Halabi said that this came with the support of Hariri, someone he says he has known for over a decade. “He isolated himself from political talk and public affairs,” El-Halabi told local television station Al-Jadeed. “Now he has a vision for Lebanon… [but] he has no interest in becoming prime minister … I can confirm that.” El-Halabi has since been acting as a de facto spokesperson for Bahaa Hariri on Lebanese media. On 10 May, he announced that Hariri would be launching his own television station within the next two months.

BEIRUT, June 12 (Xinhua) — The Central Bank of Lebanon will inject U.S. dollars into the licensed exchange market in order to …

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of Lebanese poured into the streets to protest the tumbling of the national currency to a new low against the dollar Thursday, blocking roads and highways in several places across the small country that had started slowly opening up after months of coronavirus restrictions. In Beirut and other cities, protesters burned tires and wood and chanted against government officials to protest the economic crisis while waving the Lebanese flags. Shortly after midnight, growing numbers of protesters advanced in central Beirut pelting police and soldiers with rocks, while drawing volleys of tear gas. Some protesters threw stones at offices of private banks in an expression of anger at their perceived role in deepening their economic malaise.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab cancelled his scheduled meetings for Friday and called for an emergency session to discuss the financial crisis. The governor of the central bank urged foreign exchange bureaus to stick to the rate he had ordered. Despite efforts to control the currency depreciation in recent weeks, the Lebanese pound tumbled to more than 6,000 to the dollar on Thursday, down from 4,000 on the black market in recent days. The pound had maintained a fixed rate of 1,500 to the dollar for nearly 30 years. The crash appeared to reflect the growing shortage of foreign currency on the market amid the crisis . It also signaled panic over new U.S. sanctions that will affect neighboring Syria in the coming days as well as lack of trust in the government’s management of the crisis. The heavily indebted Lebanese government has been in talks for weeks with the International Monetary Fund after it asked for a financial rescue plan but there are no signs of an imminent deal.

by arabnews.com -- BEIRUT: Protesters again took to the streets of Beirut on Thursday night, after it was reported on social media that the dollar exchange rate had plummeted to 7,000 Lebanese pounds from about 4,500 a day earlier. This rate offered by dealers is almost five times the official exchange rate, which is pegged at 1507.5 pounds. However, the currency has lost more than 60 percent of its value since October amid the nation’s financial crisis and a wave of street protests sparked by the deteriorating financial situation and political corruption. The protesters were joined by supporters of the Amal Movement and Hezbollah, who had previously been attacking them. The doors of the Central Bank on Hamra Street in Beirut were set on fire after demonstrators, chanting slogans denouncing banking policy, breached a security zone set up by the army and security forces. There were also attempts to storm the bank’s branches in a number of regions. Elsewhere, roads were blocked in several areas, including a southern suburb of Beirut that is considered a Hezbollah stronghold. Protesters also voiced their anger at rising levels of hunger caused by the financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, and called for national unity and the rejection of sectarianism. Many demonstrators said they were hungry and could no longer afford to feed their children, as the value of their salaries had fallen below $50.

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanese cut roadways with burning tyres and rubbish bins across Beirut and other cities on Thursday in renewed protests sparked by a rapid fall in the pound currency and mounting economic hardship. The pound slid to about 5,000 to the dollar on Thursday and has lost 70% of its value since October, when Lebanon descended into a financial crisis seen as the biggest threat to stability since the 1975-90 civil war. From the northern city of Tripoli to the southern city of Sidon, Lebanese chanted against the political elite and set fire to major roadways across the country in the most widespread unrest since a coronavirus lockdown imposed in mid-March. “We can’t afford to eat or pay rent or anything like that, so we will stay here until the dollar rate goes down and we get all our demands,” said Manal, a protester in central Beirut.