Heavy Deployment of Security Forces in Central Beirut, Banks Set to Reopen

Arab World

November 19th, 6:35am

Asharq Al-Awsat

Demonstrators gather behind barbed wire protecting the government headquarters in central Beirut on October 19, 2019. (AFP)

A heavy deployment of Lebanese security forces fanned out in central Beirut on Tuesday, ahead of a parliamentary session protesters have vowed to prevent, as they demonstrate against the ruling elite. Banks were set to reopen for the first time in a week after announcing temporary steps, such as a weekly cap of $1,000 on withdrawals of hard currency and transfers abroad limited to urgent personal expenses, in moves to prevent capital flight. A month after the start of nationwide protests, Lebanon is in serious political and economic crisis with no indication of its leaders agreeing on a new government to replace the outgoing cabinet of Saad Hariri, who quit as premier on October 29. Near parliament, riot police scuffled with a group of protesters who were trying to use a cable to remove a barbed wire barricade blocking a road, a Reuters witness said. The protests have been fueled by perceptions of corruption among the sectarian politicians who have governed Lebanon for decades and are blamed for leading the country into its worst economic crisis since the 1975-90 civil war. On Monday, the US State Department spokeswoman tweeted that Washington "proudly" stands with the Lebanese people who are demanding an end to endemic corruption. Morgan Ortagus posted a video recorded on Friday in which she blasted Russia for seeking to miscast the Lebanese protests as a "plot by the United States." A senior Russian official earlier this month said Moscow rejects "external attempts to interfere in Lebanese affairs" or foment demonstrations. He did not specify the United States. "This is simply incorrect," she said in the video. She listed US assistance to the Lebanese armed forces and humanitarian aid over the past decade as proof of Washington's support for the Lebanese people and institutions. The US has also imposed widening sanctions on the Lebanese Hezbollah party, which it labels a terrorist organization.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/1998236/heavy-deployment-security-forces-central-beirut-banks-set-reopen