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Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Lebanon enters sixth day of protests as army opens roads, bagman arrested

2019-10-23

[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Protesters began gathering in Riad Al Solh Square in Beirut on Tuesday morning as nationwide demonstrations in Leb continued for the sixth day.

The Lebanese army opened several highways and issued orders banning road blockades in the country.

On Monday night, the first signs of potential sectarian tensions appeared as Hezbollah and Amal supporters on cycle of violences drove to central Beirut and tried to disrupt the protests. However,
there's more than one way to skin a cat...
they were pushed back by the Lebanese army, which has promised to protect protesters, and the disruption was limited.

Protesters have presented a united front and informally banned any symbols except for the Lebanese national flag and the flag of the Lebanese Armed Forces.

Earlier in the day the Lebanese government under Prime Minister Saad Hariri

...Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too....
agreed a package of long-stalled reforms to try to ease an economic crisis and defuse the biggest protests against the ruling elite in decades. The cabinet approved a 2020 state budget that does not impose any new taxes on individuals and aims for a deficit of 0.6 percent of GDP, down from a previous target of around 7 percent.

The cabinet measures appeared to have little effect as protesters call for the overthrow of the entire government.

Protests began on Thursday, sparked by a proposed fee on WhatsApp calls and a raise in the price of cigarettes against a backdrop of widespread corruption, political deadlock, and a worsening economic situation including an alleged shortage of dollars.

Army Says ‘Impostor Cleric’ Held for Distributing Money to Protesters

[AnNahar] A man claiming to be a Shiite Moslem holy man has been arrested for distributing money to protesters in downtown Beirut, the army said on Tuesday.

"A force from the Intelligence Directorate arrested Mohammed Ali Tarshishi for claiming to be a holy man and distributing money of an unknown source to protesters in the city of Beirut," an army statement said.

"The detainee is being interrogated under the supervision of the competent judicial authorities," the military added.

The man had appeared in videos circulated on Monday.

Posted by:Fred

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