Anti-graft protest

Hundreds of Lebanese protested yesterday in the country’s capital and other areas over an economic crisis that worsened over the past two weeks, with worries over dollar-reliant Lebanon’s local currency losing value for the first time in more than two decades. Lebanon is facing a deep-running fiscal crisis as it staggers under one of the highest debt ratios in the world, at $86 billion or more than 150 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product.

Many of Sunday’s protesters in downtown Beirut blamed Lebanese political leaders for the widespread mismanagement and corruption. The protesters gathered shortly before noon in the central Martyrs Square, then marched toward the government headquarters were riot police were deployed.

“The people want to bring down the regime,” some of the protesters chanted as riot police stopped them from marching toward the government headquarters. Other protesters chanted “peaceful” and tried to stop the young men who clashed with security forces. Later in the day, dozens of protesters closed major roads in the capital with burning tires and barriers causing traffic jams.