Four days after the double explosion which has left more than 150 dead and 6,000 wounded, of thousands of Lebanese demonstrated against the political class and stormed the ministry of foreign Affairs.
protesters in fury stormed the ministry of foreign Affairs Saturday to Beirut as the wrath exploded among the Lebanese people after the gigantic blast that has made hundreds of thousands homeless and caused a wave of shock through the world. Close to the Martyrs square, the epicentre of traditional protests in the capital, clashes erupted between the security forces, who fired tear gas, which young protesters ripostant with stones.
In the evening, protesters have also stormed the headquarters of the Association of banks putting fire to it before being dislodged by the army. “Down with the rule of the banks!”, shouted the protesters. At the same time, other protesters were investing in the ministry of foreign Affairs and Trade.
the Lebanese, already hit by an economic crisis unprecedented, the explosion Tuesday that killed more than 150 people and devastated a part of the city has been the disaster of too much, raising the stakes in a protest movement that began in October to denounce the whole of the ruling class, considered corrupt and incompetent, but was short of breath because of the pandemic of Covid-19. According to a tweet from the lebanese Red Cross, more than a hundred people were injured during the event, 32 of whom have been transported to hospitals and 110 treated on the spot.
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The attention of the security forces focusing on the clashes, about 200 demonstrators led by officers to the retirement took the opportunity to assault the headquarters of the ministry of foreign Affairs, proclaiming “headquarters of the Revolution”, according to images broadcast live by television channels.
soon after these events, the lebanese Prime minister, Hassan Diab, announced on Saturday evening that he was going to propose early parliamentary elections. In a televised speech, the head of the government has estimated that only “early elections may offer a way out of the structural crisis,” adding that he was ready to stay in power “for two months”, the time that the political forces agreed on this subject.
The lebanese Red Cross has reported in a tweet of 55 people injured during the event transported in hospitals and 117 other treated on the spot.
The attention of the security forces focusing on the clashes, about 200 demonstrators led by officers to the retirement took the opportunity to assault the headquarters of the ministry of foreign Affairs, proclaiming “headquarters of the Revolution”, according to images broadcast live by television channels.
“Vengeance”
Yelling in a megaphone, the ex-general Sami Rammah has called for the uprising and to the pursuit of “all corrupt” while protesters dropped out and stalled the portrait of president Michel Aoun. On the place des Martyrs, the watchword was “The Day of judgment”. A guillotine in the woods, have been installed and protesters have brandished the strings. The hashtag #Hang them around for several days on social networks.
“Revenge, revenge, until the fall of the regime”, chanted the protesters, some masked, others carrying flags, while security forces tried to prevent certain groups from advancing towards Parliament, according to correspondents of the AFP. A huge flag was deployed on a façade, and that the protesters, who marched in the midst of the rubble, have unrolled a banner with the names of the victims of the explosion.
“After three days spent to clear the rubble and heal our wounds, it’s time to let explode our anger (…) the change must be the measure of the magnitude of the disaster,” said Fares al-Hablabi, an activist of 28 years.
21 missing
Beirut awoke for the fourth consecutive day to the sound of broken glass picked up in the streets by an army of volunteers. The explosion at the port, in circumstances which are still not clarified, would have been caused by a fire that hit a huge deposit of ammonium nitrate, a dangerous chemical substance. The disaster resulted in at least 158 deaths and more than 6,000 wounded, of which at least 120 are in a critical condition, according to the latest report of the ministry of Health, as well as nearly 300,000 homeless. The number of missing people has been revised down to 21 against sixty before.
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According to the embassy of Syria, 43 Syrians were among the dead. The netherlands have announced that the wife of the Dutch ambassador in Lebanon Jan Waltmans, had died from his injuries.
The president Michel Aoun, increasingly decried, said Friday that it was opposed to a inquest international, claiming that the explosion could have been caused by negligence or by a missile. Twenty officials of port and customs officials were arrested, according to sources legal and safe.
The three members of the party Kataëb (opposition) party history christian, resigned Saturday, saying the time had come to build a “new Lebanon”. The secretary-general of this training has been killed in the explosion. Two other members had already resigned after the tragedy.
“hostage”
Two days after the visit of Emmanuel Macron, which has been severely criticized by the political class, a video conference of donors in support to Lebanon will take place on Sunday, co-organized by the united nations and France, said the French presidency, to AFP. The us president, Donald Trump, has announced that he would participate. “Everyone wants to help!”, a-t-he tweeted.
Lebanon is in the sinking economic, after having made default on its debt, and its leaders were unable to agree on a plan of economic rescue with the international monetary Fund (IMF). The president of the european Council, Charles Michel, is expected Saturday in Beirut, for a testimony of the “solidarity” of Europeans ‘shocked and saddened”. The EU, which had already released 33 million euros, “wants to be by your side, not just with statements, not just with words, with actions,” he said after a meeting with president Aoun.
READ ALSO >> Lebanon : the donors conference, co-organized by the UN and France will take place on Sunday
The head of the arab League, Ahmad Aboul Gheit, as well as the Turkish vice-president, Fuat Oktay and the head of Turkish diplomacy ,Mevlut Cavusoglu, visited Saturday in Beirut to ensure that the lebanese officials of their support. Without wait, several countries have sent medical equipment and health as well as field hospitals.
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Double explosion in Beirut
Accident or attack : what do we know about the origins of the explosion in Beirut ? Lebanon : the donors conference, co-organized by the UN and France will take place on Sunday Explosion in Beirut : more than 60 people are still missing
While the foreign officers followed and that the international aid pours in, the leaders love of Lebanon are trying to clearly take advantage of the situation, considers the analyst Nasser Yassin, the Institute Issam Fares. “The fear is that the authorities are taking advantage of this disaster and the attention of arab and international to get back on their feet,” he says.
