- Title: Lebanon protests: As night falls, crowds gather in Beirut and Tripoli
- Date: 26th October 2019
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE CHEF AND PROTESTER, RABAH NOURI, SAYING: "We remain in the streets, probably till next week, or till our demands are met. But we also have to think of the people who can't live amid closure or those who live on daily fees."
- Embargoed: 9th November 2019 19:03
- Keywords: Lebanon Beirut Tripoli protesters anti-government night
- Location: BEIRUT AND TRIPOLI, LEBANON
- City: BEIRUT AND TRIPOLI, LEBANON
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA002B2QHQ2V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Protesters poured back onto streets and squares across Lebanon on Saturday (October 26), despite army efforts to unblock roads, with no end in sight to a crisis that has crippled the country for 10 days and kept banks closed.
Army and security commanders met to plan ways to re-open main arteries to get traffic flowing again while "safeguarding the safety of protesters," the military said in a statement. But people have closed routes with barriers, sit-ins and mass gatherings demanding the government resign.
Lebanon has been swept by 10 days of protests against a political class accused of corruption, mismanagement of state finances and pushing the country towards an economic collapse unseen since the 1975-90 civil war.
Banks, schools, and many businesses have shut their doors.
As night fell on Saturday, the first day of the weekend, protesters flooded streets across the country amid patriotic music, red flares, Lebanese flags and protest banners.
Troops and riot police deployed to main roads across Lebanon. Forces re-opened some roads for a few hours on Saturday morning before people gathered once again.
Near the northern city of Tripoli, the Lebanese army said it fired into the air during a disturbance with protesters. Five soldiers and a number of civilians were injured, it said.
Banks will stay closed until life returns to normal and will pay month-end salaries through ATMs, the Association of Banks in Lebanon has said.
It has held crisis meetings in recent days amid growing fears that a rush on the banks when they reopen could deplete dwindling foreign currency deposits.
(Production: Issam Abdallah, Ahmad El Kerdi, Walid Saleh, Yara Abi Nader) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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