by AP — Lebanese security forces prepared for more violence on Sunday after a night of protests over the country’s worsening financial situation gripped Lebanon’s capital. Demonstrators used rocks and other projectiles early Sunday while security forces responded by firing tear gas canisters and water cannons, before turning to rubber bullets. A few protesters tried to breach metal barriers that separated them from the riot police, while hundreds more gathered down the blocked street leading to the Parliament building.

At least 70 people were injured in the first 90 minutes of the clashes, including 30 transported to hospitals for treatment, according to the Red Cross. Reporters on the scene said most of the injured were from rubber bullets. Earlier Sunday, security forces reinforced the metal barriers surrounding the Parliament building in central Beirut, after the worst night of violence since protests erupted several months ago. Saturday’s clashes left nearly 400 people injured, according to the Red Cross and the Lebanese Civil Defense. Lebanon’s Internal Security Forces said 142 of its members were injured, some with serious concussions. Lebanon’s military made a show of force on Sunday, heavily deploying in downtown Beirut and patrolling ahead of the rallies. Riot police were in the front line guarding Parliament.

Sunday’s unrest comes a day after President Michel Aoun called on the military to intervene as fierce clashes broke out between protesters and police. “We’re not scared. This is all for our future and our children,” shoemaker Bassam Taleb told Reuters at the protest. “The country is frozen. The state is not doing a thing, they’re a bunch of thieves. And if you have money in the bank, you can’t even get a hundred dollars out.” Earlier in Beirut on Sunday, shopkeepers, banks and other businesses swept up broken glass and boarded-up windows. Workers at one bank took down the large sign with its name to remove any identifier and avoid soliciting anger from protesters, who smashed the windows and the facade of Lebanon’s Banking Association headquarters with metal bars on Saturday. The demonstrators widely blame Lebanese financial institutions, alongside government corruption, for the crippling economic crisis. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

 An AFP photographer at the scene said security forces fired rubber bullets at stone-throwing protesters as thick clouds of tear gas covered central Beirut. On Sunday, local television aired the testimonies of relatives of two young men they said were hit in the eyes by rubber bullets. Human Rights Watch condemned what it called “the brutal use of force unleashed by Lebanon’s riot police against largely peaceful demonstrators”. “Riot police showed a blatant disregard for their human rights obligations, instead launching tear gas canisters at protesters’ heads, firing rubber bullets in their eyes and attacking people at hospitals and a mosque,” said its deputy Middle East director Michael Page. The authorities must act quickly “to end this culture of impunity for police abuse”, he said. Saturday’s clashes began after dozens of protesters threw stones and plant pots at security forces, and tried to charge police lines near parliament with traffic signs. The security forces responded with water cannon and thick tear gas. Protesters had called for a week of “anger” over the political leadership’s failure to form a new government even as the country sinks deeper into a financial crisis.

 ‘STOP WASTING TIME’

The NNA said around 30 people were briefly detained after the violence on Saturday. Security forces said they had opened an probe after a video shared online showed police beating up people believed to be protesters as they were brought to a Beirut police station. “Another day without a government, another night of violence and clashes,” UN envoy to Lebanon Jan Kubis said on Twitter. Outgoing prime minister Saad Hariri, who stepped down on October 29, urged political parties to “stop wasting time”. “Form a government and pave the way towards political and economic solutions,” he said.

This is an opinion article and does not necessarily represent khazen.org opinion 

Syria’s invisible hand in Lebanon confronts Iran’s allies

by Dr Basem Shabb  — Since October 17, a nationwide uprising took Lebanese by storm, forcing then prime minister Saad Hariri and his Cabinet to step down. In December, Iran-backed Hezbollah and its ally, the Christian Free Patriotic Movement, or FPM, were duped into naming Dr Hassan Diab, a Sunni academic, as prime minister designate. It is the prime minister designate’s duty by law to form the Cabinet but acting foreign minister and head of the FPM, Gebran Bassil mistakenly thought he could impose his preferred nominees on a relatively unknown prime minister and divide the spoils with Hezbollah. Much to the dismay of Mr Bassil, Mr Diab appears bent on forming a government of unaffiliated experts, in compliance with the demands of protesters. Mr Diab has challenged Mr Bassil as well as his father-in-law Lebanese President Michel Aoun, with active support from pro-Syrian politicians, most notably member of parliament Jamil Al Sayyed. Other pro-Syrian factions voiced their demands to be represented in the new government, effectively competing with the FPM for the next Cabinet’s 18 ministries.

 It seems that Mr Diab, far from being weak and isolated, has considerable support from Pro-Syrian factions opposed to Mr Hariri. Grand Mufti Abdul Latif Darian and other Sunni dignitaries have refrained from criticising Mr Diab, avoiding the thorny issue of his legitimacy within the community. More importantly, the Saudi leadership has yet to take a position on Mr Diab, which may indicate that they are ready to give him a chance. Syrian President Bashar Al Assad has yet to comment on the situation but Druze politician Wiam Wahhab, one of Syria’s closest allies in Lebanon, has indicated he was the one to suggest Mr Diab for the position of prime minister. The Russians first endorsed Mr Hariri but after Mr Diab was officially nominated, they have assumed a neutral stance. Western powers are closely watching as Lebanese politicians bicker while the economy is in free fall.

by france 24 — Clashes between police and protesters in Lebanon angered by delays in forming a government wounded more than 160 people on both sides Saturday as anti-establishment demonstrations enter a fourth month. The sound of ambulance sirens rang out across Beirut as the Red Cross reported 65 wounded had been taken to hospital and 100 more were treated on site. On Saturday evening, fire tore through protest tents in an iconic square in central Beirut. It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze. According to the spokesman, there were injuries on both sides. The protest movement rocking Lebanon since October 17 revived this week as a deepening economic crisis increases pressure to form a new government. No progress appears to have been made towards finalising the cabinet, which protesters demand be comprised of independent experts and exclude all established political parties. ‘We won’t pay the price’

Earlier, marches converged on the city centre from across Beirut, with demonstrators chanting “We won’t pay the price”. But near parliament, dozens of protesters threw rocks and large plant pots at police guarding the institution. Others charged police blockades with traffic signs and metal barriers. Security forces behind the barricades responded with water cannon and tear gas to disperse the crowds. Lebanon’s Interior Minister Raya el-Hassan said it was unacceptable for protesters to attack security forces. “I always asserted the right to protest, but for the protests to turn into a blatant assault on the security forces, on public and private property, is condemned and not acceptable at all,” she said in a tweet. The Internal Security Forces also took to the social media: “A direct and violent confrontation is taking place with anti-riot police at one of the entrances to parliament”, they tweeted. “We ask peaceful protesters to keep away from the site of the rioting for their safety.” They published photos of several wounded policemen and a video showing pillars stripped of their tiles, reportedly to be thrown at security forces.

by AFP — BEIRUT: Protesters blocked several main roads across Lebanon on Friday as unprecedented demonstrations against a political elite accused of corruption and incompetence entered their fourth month. The protest movement rocking Lebanon since October 17 has resurged this week, over delays in forming a new cabinet to address the country’s growing economic crisis. No progress seemed to have been made on a final lineup, which protesters demand be made up solely of independent experts and exclude traditional political parties. In central Beirut, dozens of protesters Friday stood between parked cars blocking a key thoroughfare linking the city’s east and west. “We blocked the road with cars because it’s something they can’t move,” Marwan Karam said.

The protester condemned what he regarded as efforts to form yet another government in which power is divided among the traditional parties. “We don’t want a government of masked political figures,” the 30-year-old told AFP. “Any such government will fall. We won’t give it any chance in the street.” Forming a new cabinet is often a drawn-out process in Lebanon, where a complex system seeks to maintain balance between the various political parties and a multitude of religious confessions. Nearby, Carlos Yammine, 32, said he did not want yet another “cake-sharing government”. “What we have asked for from the start of the movement is a reduced, transitional, emergency government of independents,” he said, leaning against his car. Demonstrators also blocked roads in second city Tripoli Friday morning, although they were cleared later in the day, local media reported. Protests also took place in the southern port city of Tyre later in the day.

‘Unacceptable’ violence

by arabnews.com –RANDA TAKIEDDINE — A few days after the killing of Qassem Soleimani in Iraq, Hezbollah exhibited, all along the road to Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport, posters bearing the portrait of the leading member of Iran’s Quds Force, who was responsible for killings, massacres and troubles in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. This was a shocking scene to a Lebanese patriot. Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, said Iran’s missile attacks on Iraqi military bases that host US troops was just “a slap” and promised they were only the beginning of the actions that would be taken in response to the US‘ killing of Soleimani. Nasrallah, Iran’s man in Lebanon, made an aggressive speech, in which he presented the goals of his party and his Iranian sponsor: Attacks on American targets in the Middle East with the aim of removing US military forces from the region.

At the same time, Hezbollah MPs and ministers in the caretaker Lebanese government made it publicly known that the party wanted the quick formation of a new government at any cost. However, despite their support of the designated prime minister, Hassan Diab, they failed to obtain a quick understanding between their allies, namely the caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil, who wanted seven ministerial positions for his followers, and Nabih Berri, the Shiite Speaker of Parliament, who disagreed with Bassil. Meanwhile, the demonstrations have resumed in Lebanon, with protesters objecting to Diab and all the political class, who they describe as “corrupt and responsible for the disastrous economic and financial situation that is wrecking the lives of the people, young and old, in the country.” Violence erupted near the Central Bank on Tuesday. Some accused Hezbollah and its ally the Amal Movement of having infiltrated the peaceful demonstrators, breaking windows and causing injuries. Hezbollah and Amal deny this.

Beirut (AFP) – Lebanon’s security forces on Thursday released most of the 100-plus anti-government protesters detained in the past 48 hours, lawyers told AFP, after two nights of violent demonstrations in Beirut. Protesters gathered in Beirut again on Thursday evening in front of the Central Bank and interior ministry, where several hundred demonstrators denounced police use of force and outgoing minister Raya al-Hassan. A protest movement that has rocked Lebanon since October surged again from Tuesday, with a committee of lawyers defending demonstrators saying 101 people had been detained, including 56 on Wednesday, with five minors among them. The lawyers’ committee announced on Facebook on Thursday that “all those arrested have been released with the exception of seven foreigners”.

The detained foreigners — six Syrians and an Egyptian — will be brought before authorities, the committee added. Lebanese security forces announced 59 people were arrested on suspicion of vandalism and assault on Tuesday, when protesters angered by stringent informal capital controls attacked banks in central Beirut. “Under popular pressure, the detained have been released two days after a hysterical crackdown,” Nizar Saghieh, who heads the Legal Agenda non-governmental organisation, wrote on Twitter. Amnesty International denounced what it said were “arbitrary arrests”. “What we have witnessed in the past couple of days is an alarming attack on freedom of assembly and expression,” said the watchdog’s Middle East research director Lynn Maalouf. “Acts by a minority of protesters who vandalised banks or threw stones is never a justification for such excessive use of force and sweeping arrests by law enforcement.”

– Fresh protests –

BEIRUT ( Sputnik) Riots that took place on one of the central Beirut streets were beyond inexcusable and such actions can destroy the whole country, acting Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri said on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, eyewitnesses told Sputnik that protesters continued clashing with police and throwing stones and other objects, who in response fired tear gas to disperse the protesters. Reports said that around 47 officers were injured and 59 people were detained. “The attack on the Hamra street is unacceptable under no circumstances. It is an attack that I do not want to hold anyone responsible for, the people’s revolution or their dissatisfaction with banks … From my political, governmental and parliamentary viewpoint, I will not accept being a witness of suspicious actions that can ruin the whole country,” Hariri said in a statement. He called to prosecute those accountable for the riots in the Lebanese capital in accordance to the law and also demanded the army to fulfill its obligations on ensuring security.

In October, protests flared across Lebanon amid a crippling economic crisis. They have been demanding urgent reforms to end the deepening liquidity crisis, while President Michel Aoun has blamed it on sanctions. The economic and financial situation has continued to deteriorate, with private entrepreneurs refusing to accept any payment by bank transfer. Hariri’s government resigned on October 29, but the demonstrations have not stopped. In mid-December, President Michel Aoun designated former Education Minister Diab as the next prime minister. However, a new government that satisfies all political parties has not yet been formed. According to the media reports, anti-government protesters gave Diab 48 hours to form a new cabinet.

Hariri Says ‘No One Can Sack’ Salameh, Asks ‘Where was Army’ Tuesday

by naharnet — Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Wednesday defended Central Bank Governor Riad Salameh following a meeting with him at the Center House. “The central bank governor has immunity and no one can sack him,” Hariri told reporters after the talks. “All people want to blame the central bank for what’s happening in the country, but there are $47 billion in debt in the electricity file and had we addressed the file, the issue would have been solved,” Hariri added. “The funds went to private generator providers and everyone knows who they are,” the caretaker PM went on to say. “They are saying that I’m the one obstructing the electricity file, but have I ever been in charge of the energy ministry?” Hariri said.

by thenational.ae — As turmoil sweeps the Middle East, the eyes of the world have lost sight of the ongoing uprisings in Iraq, but also in Lebanon. After weeks of relative calm, the Lebanese people have vowed to relaunch nationwide protests in what they have dubbed a “week of wrath”. The Lebanese have a lot to be angry about. Their country is going through a crippling economic crisis and, for the past thirty years, it has been led by an elite that has largely failed to meet the population’s basic needs. Lebanon has been without a government for more than two months after a popular uprising led Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his Cabinet to resign. Mr Hariri stated at the time that he wanted to heed the calls of those calling for a better future for Lebanon. The country has been suffering from electricity shortages for the past three decades, however, in the last week, it has endured even longer cuts, with some Beirut residents reporting less than 30 minutes of electricity per day. An internet shutdown is also on the horizon. Telecommunication companies have expressed fears that the government will be unable to pay them for their services by March.

Adding to people’s woes, a financial crisis of unprecedented proportions has hit the country since November. Lebanon has been downgraded by Moody’s and other credit rating agencies twice in a year, and the Lebanese pound has lost half of its value to the American dollar on the black market. A shortage of dollars, to which the pound is pegged and that is used interchangeably with the local currency, has pushed banks to impose informal capital controls. The draconian measures include a cap on foreign currency withdrawals of $200 per week, a ban on transferring money abroad, as well as refusing people access to their frozen accounts. As a result, most companies have downsized or halved their employees’ salaries and many businesses have gone bankrupt. Frustration is in the air, as Lebanese are forced to queue for hours at their local bank, only to withdraw a couple hundred dollars. Many fear their life savings are as good as gone. The situation has fuelled anger at the banking system, with protesters staging demonstrations in front of Lebanon’s Central bank. Some have even resorted to violence, setting the very banks where they keep their savings on fire, or smashing their windows in desperation.

BEIRUT (AP) SARAH EL DEEB— Lebanese security forces fired volleys of tear gas at protesters who responded with rocks outside the country’s central bank in pitched street battles that lasted for hours late Tuesday. The clashes ended a day of rallies that followed a lull in the three-months-long protests. The street clashes stretched down one of Beirut’s busiest commercial areas and come after a day when protesters resorted to blocking roads to express their impatience at a ruling elite they say has failed to address a fast crumbling economy. The protesters have also turned their anger at the country’s banks, which have imposed capital controls on foreign currency accounts in the highly dollarized economy. Protesters using metal bars and sticks smashed windows of commercial banks and foreign exchange bureaus nearby.

Beirut’s most bustling commercial boulevards, Hamra Street, also packed with theaters and restaurants, was deserted late Tuesday save for protesters and security forces. Local TV stations carried the pitched street battles live, including late night arrests of at least half a dozen protesters. Calm had prevailed since the designation of Hassan Diab as prime minister in mid-December. But Diab, nominated by the President and a simple majority of parliament members, has so far failed to form an emergency government amid political divisions and jockeying for power. The lull was also partly due to the holidays followed by soaring regional tensions between the U.S. and Iran that eclipsed the protesters in Lebanon and Iraq demanding sweeping political change. Clashes at the bank began late Tuesday after security forces arrested a few of the protesters. It was not immediately clear why they were arrested. Local media said the protesters had removed metal barriers erected around the central bank. Lebanon’s Internal Security forces later said “vandals” attacked the central bank and injured a number of the personnel guarding it. The demonstrators accuse the central bank’s governor of financial policies that have worsened Lebanon’s liquidity crunch. The country is facing its worst economic crisis in decades. The local currency has lost over 60% of its value in just the past few weeks, while sources of foreign currency have dried up. Meanwhile, banks have imposed informal capital controls limiting withdrawal of dollars and foreign transfers in the country, which relies heavily on imports of basic goods.

by AP — American troops were informed of an impending missile barrage hours before their air base in Iraq was struck by Iran, U.S. military officials said Monday, days after the attack that marked a major escalation between the longtime foes. At 11 p.m. on Jan. 7, U.S. Lt. Col. Antoinette Chase gave the order for American troops at Ain al-Asad air base in western Iraq, to go on lockdown. Military movements froze as her team, responsible for emergency response at the base, sent out alerts about the threat. At 11:30 p.m., she gave the order to take cover in bunkers. The first strike landed sometime after 1:35 a.m. on Jan. 8 and the barrage continued for nearly two hours. Half way through the attack, Chase learned the missiles were being launched from Iran.

No American soldiers were killed or wounded, the U.S. has said, although several troops were treated for concussions from the blast and are being assessed, said Col. Myles Caggins, a spokesman at the base for the U.S. coalition fighting the Islamic State group. “The reason why we pushed it at 2330 is because at that point in time all indications pointed to something coming,” she told reporters touring the base. “Worst case scenario — we were told was it’s probably going to be a missile attack. So we were informed of that.” The Iranian attack was in retaliation for the U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport that killed top Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3. An Associated Press crew touring the Ain al-Asad base saw large craters and damaged military trailers. Forklifts lifted rubble and loaded it onto trucks from an area the size of a football stadium. U.S. soldiers inspected portable housing units destroyed in the attack. The sprawling complex in western Anbar province is about 180 kilometers (110 miles) west of Baghdad and is shared with the Iraqi military. It houses about 1,500 members of the U.S. military and the U.S.-led coalition fighting the Islamic State militant group.

BEIRUT (AP) — LEBANESE protesters used sandbags and bricks Monday to block a main street outside the country’s central bank, protesting financial policies they say deepened a liquidity crunch. Lebanon is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with the local currency losing over 60% of its value to the dollar over the last weeks while sources of foreign currency have dried up. Meanwhile, banks imposed informal capital controls limiting withdrawal of dollars and foreign transfers in the country that relies heavily on imports of basic goods. Panic has set in among residents who fear their deposits are in danger. Nationwide protests for three months have failed to pressure politicians to form a new government to institute drastic reforms.

The incumbent prime minister Saad Hariri resigned in late October. The president after consulting parliamentary blocs designated a new prime minister in December, who has yet to form a new Cabinet amid deep political divisions. After weeks of calm, protesters threatened to launch a week of protests, culminating in civil disobedience, demanding the immediate formation of a government to deal with the severe financial crisis.