Lebanon’s protests turn into riots during weekend of violence

Riots in Lebanon broke out on Sunday, as riot police
deployed water cannons and fired tear gas, rubber bullets, and allegedly real
bullets at demonstrators amid a second night of violence.
President Michel Aoun is to hold a security meeting
at noon on Monday with interior minister, Raya El Hassan, and the heads of the
Army, Internal Security Forces (ISF), State Security, and General Security,
following two nights of escalating violence.
This comes after ISF chief Major General Ima Othman
and army commander Joseph Aoun met on Sunday to ensure coordination between the
two agencies, after 142 ISF members were injured in Saturday night’s clashes,
with three serious injuries including skull fractures.
Protesters initially gathered on Sunday evening at
Mohammad al-Amin Mosque in central Beirut for a cross-religious evening prayer
for 4:55 p.m.
However, a number of those present were not there
for the prayers. “We are here for the protests,” Jana Hakwaji, a 19-year-old
school student, told Al Arabiya English.
Shielded security personnel used megaphones to call
on protesters to disperse before releasing rounds of rubber bullets, which hit
a reporter from Al Jazeera in the leg and injured a crew member from News
Channel Al-Jadeed. The leading Lebanese television channel later took to
Twitter to condemn the excessive use of rubber bullets by security forces.
Initial reports from the Lebanese Red Cross said 38
people had been injured and transferred to hospital, with a further 52 treated
onsite. Pictures of grotesque injuries circulated on Twitter, after security forces
allegedly contravened international regulations on the use of rubber bullets.
“I am here because of what happened last night, I am
against this,” Hakwaji said. “I don’t know why they are treating us like this,
most of them have sisters, and fathers, and brothers here with us.”
The previous night, nearly 400 were treated for
injuries.
Protesters returned to downtown after a military
motorcade displaying rocket-propelled grenades, armored vehicles, and firearms
paraded past the mosque during the call to prayer.
“They are trying to scare us, but we are not scared
at all,” Hakwaji told Al Arabiya English.
Protesters gathered near Nijmeh Square in downtown
Beirut under the slogan “No turning back,” and battered walls with metal poles,
using loose fragments to attack riot police on Sunday evening.
One protester held a blowtorch up to the barricade
that riot police used to warm their hands in a show of mockery. Others
attempted to climb barricades, which have obstructed access to the Parliament
building since the beginning of the protests in October.
Amidst an increasing security presence in downtown
Beirut, ISF used Twitter to call for calm, and to ask protesters to refrain
from vandalizing public and private property and attacking security forces.
Despite requests for calm as clashes escalated, some
protesters launched Molotov cocktails over blockades at riot police.
Later, cheering crowds of protesters battered into
state-run telecommunications company Alfa’s downtown branch and a branch of
chocolate shop Patchi, reportedly looting items from inside.
“There is a way to calm the popular storm. Stop
wasting time, form a government and open the door to political and economic
solutions,” Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri said via Twitter on Sunday.
Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab met with
President Michel Aoun at Baabada Palace on Sunday evening but made no statement
to press regarding the formation of a new government when he left.
Sunday marked a month since former Education
Minister, Hassan Diab was nominated as the future Prime Minister, and the 95th
day of nationwide demonstrations which have protested against the political
deadlock that has led the country into its worst economic crisis since the
civil war.