- Title: Protests grip Lebanon demanding government resigns
- Date: 18th October 2019
- Summary: TRIPOLI, NORTH LEBANON (OCTOBER 18, 2019) (REUTERS) PROTESTERS BURNING TIRES / PROTESTERS CHEERING PROTESTERS GATHERED AROUND BURNING TIRES / PROTESTER POURING GASOLINE INTO FIRE PROTESTERS GATHERED IN STREET VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS RAISING LEBANESE FLAG PROTESTERS HOLDING BANNERS / SIGN READING (Arabic): "We want to eat. We want to live" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROTESTER, SAHAR GABARA, SAYING: "We want the downfall of the regime, all the way from the top of the pyramid, because one person only cannot leave while the rest remain, because we are hungry, because we are dying, because we are tired. They have no conscience. There isn't a single thing. There is nothing." BLACK SMOKE RISING FROM BURNING TIRES IN THE STREET TIRES BURNING / PROTESTERS GATHERED / WOMAN AND CHILD WALKING PAST BURNING TIRES PROTESTERS GATHERED, SHOUTING, CLAPPING PROTESTERS CHANTING (Arabic): "The people want the downfall of the regime"
- Embargoed: 1st November 2019 13:08
- Keywords: Lebanon protest economy government Lebanon protests
- Location: TRIPOLI, NORTH LEBANON
- City: TRIPOLI, NORTH LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001B1ML5C7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Demonstrators took to the streets on Friday (October 18) in the city of Tripoli in North Lebanon, demanding the demise of a political elite they say looted the economy to the point of breakdown.
Protesters gathered in large groups, blocking streets and burning tires in demand of radical change.
One protester, Sahar Gabara, said that their demands include "the downfall of the regime, all the way from the top of the pyramid".
The nationwide protests, Lebanon's biggest in years, brought ordinary people from all sects and walks of life to the streets. They carried banners and chanted slogans calling on the government to resign.
The demonstrations came as economists, investors and rating agencies warned that indebted Lebanon's economy and graft-entrenched financial system is closer to the brink than any time since the war-torn 1980s.
Foreign allies have pressured Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri to enact reforms long promised but never delivered because of vested interests, beginning with an overhaul with some state assets.
The unrest prompted Hariri to cancel a cabinet meeting due on Friday to discuss the 2020 draft budget. He is set to make a speech instead.
(Production: Walid Saleh, Nadeen Ebrahim) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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