Several protesters suffered in the Lebanese city of Akkar as a result of the army attempt to unblock the road, NNA reported.
Hasan Nasrallah, the leader of the Hezbollah’s Shiite movement, on Friday said that he was afraid of Lebanon being drawn into a new civil war, and urged the movement’s supporters to leave protest squares. At the same time, he criticized the blocking of roads by protesters, noting that a part of the Lebanese population suffered from such measures. Hezbollah activists left the central square of Beirut after the speech.
On Saturday, the blockade of roads was also criticized by the Lebanese Forces party leader Samir Jaajaa.
An informed Lebanese source told RIA Novosti that there was an unspoken decision not to use force to unblock key routes, but to try to convince protesters to make concessions.
“The army will be exclusively engaged in this task within the framework of the plan, according to which all routes will be open by the beginning of next week”, – the source explained.
“Several people were injured in clashes with the army, when the military tried to unblock the international route connecting Tripoli with the cities of Minya and Akkar, some of the wounded are in critical condition”, – the agency reports. According to him, several demonstrators were detained, the victims were hospitalized in the nearest hospitals.
According to Sky News Arabia, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri demanded that the leadership of the army immediately investigate the circumstances of the incident. According to the statement made by the army, the military tried to stop the clashes between the protesters and the citizens trying to drive along the highway, as a result of which five soldiers and an unspecified number of civilians were injured.
As a result of this situation, the situation in the Badawi Palestinian refugee camp area became tense, the protesters began to burn tires after a rumor spread in their ranks about the death of one of the wounded, which, however, has not yet been confirmed. The agency reports another person was injured in a similar incident on a highway leading to the southern city of Sayda. At the same time, in the area of the city of Chekka, the army managed to negotiate the unblocking of the highway during negotiations with demonstrators, and protesters were allowed to rally on the side of the road.
In general, according to the agency, on Saturday most of the tracks earlier blocked by the protesters were unlocked. In response to the anti-government rallies, Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced on Monday a set of measures and reforms aimed at resolving the financial crisis in the country, including a 50% reduction in the salaries of current and former ministers and deputies and the preparation of a law creating the National anti-corruption department. Hariri said no new taxes were included in the new budget. The authorities also pledged to allocate an additional 20 billion Lebanese lire for benefits to the poorest families. This did not cause unanimous approval of the population – peaceful protests continued. Lebanese President Michel Aoun on Thursday announced his readiness to start a dialogue with representatives of the protesters, but there are no clear leaders in the protest movement yet.
Since October 17, demonstrators in Lebanon have been blocking roads in the capital and barricading routes connecting the northern and southern regions of the country. During the protests, among the protesters there are calls for the dissolution of the government and parliament, the holding of early elections, the abolition of the system of confessional quotas in politics, in which many see the reason for the ineffective government. A number of universities announced the suspension of classes for an indefinite period and the postponement of exams; the country’s banks remain closed. Four cabinet members have already resigned.