LEBANON-CRISIS/CLASHES UPDATE Security forces use water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators

Record ID: 142821

  • Title: LEBANON-CRISIS/CLASHES UPDATE Security forces use water cannon and tear gas on demonstrators
  • Date: 23rd August 2015
  • Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (AUGUST 23, 2015) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS ON THE STREET WATER CANNONS TRAINED ON PROTESTERS PROTESTERS SHELTERING BEHIND A WOODEN SHIELD PROTESTER ON THE GROUND PROTESTERS WALKING AWAY FROM SQUARE WOUNDED BEING PUT INTO AMBULANCE MORE OF PROTESTERS WALKING AWAY FROM SQUARE MORE OF WOUNDED BEING TAKEN INTO AMBULANCE CROWD OF PROTESTERS MOVING ALONG STREET VARIOUS OF FIRES NEAR ESCWA BUILDING IN RIAD AL-SOLH SQUARE CLOUD OF TEAR GAS AMBULANCE LEAVING RIAD AL-SOLH SQUARE VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS FACING SECURITY FORCES AND HURLING STONES AT THEM SECURITY FORCES IN BLACK HELMETS SURROUNDING INJURED OFFICER SECURITY ESCORTING STREET WITH CLOUDS OF TEAR GAS
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB4ELTALEDKZ6FTBDL1AFJ0QNN
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Protests against the Lebanese government turned violent for a second day on Sunday (August 23), and Prime Minister Tammam Salam threatened to resign as public discontent brought thousands into the streets.
    Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets of Beirut this weekend as part of the "You Stink" campaign directed at the government.
    Water cannon and tear gas were fired at protesters, and demonstrators threw rocks and sticks at riot police as violence flared near Salam's offices in central Beirut.
    Security forces fired into the air, clouds of tear gas wafted through the streets and shop fronts were smashed as police tried to force protesters from the area.
    Similar scenes unfolded on Saturday night. Dozens of people have been hurt over the two days. Thirty members of the Internal Security Forces were injured, one seriously, the National News Agency said.
    Anger at the Salam-led unity cabinet grouping Lebanon's fractious politicians has come to a head over its failure to resolve a crisis over garbage disposal that reflects the wider failings of the weak state.
    Salam's cabinet has been hamstrung by political and sectarian rivalries that have been exacerbated by wider crises in the Middle East, including the war in neighbouring Syria.
    Salam, in a televised address, warned that Lebanon was headed towards collapse and that a bigger problem than the trash crisis was the country's "political garbage".
    Lebanon, still rebuilding from its 1975-1990 civil war, has been jolted by spillover from the Syria war, including political violence and a flood of refugees.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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