(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Lebanese riot police sprayed thousands of protesters with water cannons and hurled stones at them yesterday in downtown Beirut, marking the second day mass demonstrations against an ongoing trash crisis have become violence.
At least 20 people were injured, medics said. Around 200 youths, some wearing scarves or masks to cover their faces, threw stones and bottles filled with sand at police and tried to pull down security barricades, witnesses said. They also set on fire a motorcycle and tried to set up their own barricades using tables and wood.
Police retaliated with water cannon and tear gas. Some protesters suffered smoke inhalation and were taken away by ambulances for treatment.
A Lebanese Red Cross official said 20 protesters were injured, including 13 who were hospitalised. Some shots also rang out in central Beirut, near the prime minister's office.
The violence came hours after Prime Minister Tammam Salam hinted he might step down following violent protests on Saturday that injured more than 100 people.
The demonstrations, the largest in years to shake Lebanon, seek to upend what protesters see as a corrupt and dysfunctional political system that has no functional Cabinet or parliament, nor a president for more than a year.
Yesterday's clashes broke out shortly before sunset when angry protesters tried to break through barbed wire leading to the government's headquarters. Police beat back protesters with clubs and water cannons. At least two riot police officers were injured and whisked away by their colleagues.
Ambulances carried away at least five injured protesters from Riad Solh Square in central Beirut, where the demonstrators had been gathering since the morning. The protests started over garbage piling up on the streets after the capital's main landfill was closed a month ago.
An online group calling itself "You Stink!" and other civil society groups organised the rallies, calling on Lebanese to join them in a revolt against the corrupt system.
Moving to ease tensions, Salam said he was ready to meet with members of the "You Stink" movement which is organising the demonstrations and has blamed political divisions and corruption for the crisis. Salam said he stood "with the people and with the citizens," adding: "I'm ready to listen to you and sit with you." In a statement to journalists at the protest site, the movement's leadership rebuffed Salam's offer of talks and demanded the government's resignation.
Protesters have been calling for a concrete solution to a crisis that has seen piles of waste growing in Beirut and the populous Mount Lebanon region since the country's largest landfill was shut on July 17.
With the summer heat at its peak, the stench from the growing mountains of waste has spread through the streets of Beirut and the green hills above the city.
In recent weeks, people have set fire to the piles of trash, while some municipalities have collected rubbish but then disposed of it at illegal dump sites.
Furious demonstrators have posted videos and photos on social media of security forces firing into the air and beating back protesters during Saturday's unrest.
Joey Ayoub, who sits on You Stink's organising committee, said the movement's most pressing demand now was for security forces to be held accountable. "Our most urgent demand is accountability for the police and army men," Ayoub said. "We will not leave the street until that demand is met."
Protesters now demand that the country's top politicians resign, saying they are not fit to rule to country.
Salam said in a news conference earlier yesterday: "I warn that we are going are going towards collapse if matters continue," Salam said in a televised address.
"Frankly, I have not and will not be a partner in this collapse. Let all officials and political forces bear their responsibilities."
He described as excessive the force used against protesters on Saturday and said those responsible would be held to account.
The Salam government brings together rival Lebanese parties, including the Sunni-led Future Movement of Saad Al Hariri, Shia Hezbollah, and competing Christian groups.
Should it collapse, Salam's government would stay on in the caretaker capacity. However, his resignation would trigger a constitutional crisis.
In Lebanon, it is the president who appoints the prime minister, but the presidency has been vacant since last year.
Salam said that if a cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday was not productive on issues including a tender to decide on a new refuse collection company, "there would be no necessity for the government after it".
"The trash is the straw that broke the camel's back, but the story is much bigger than this straw. It is the story of the political garbage in the country and the political trash in the country," Salam said.
He also warned the heavily indebted government would be unable to pay salaries next month. Unable to issue new debt, it risked being classified "among the failing states". Lebanon's public debt currently stands at about 143 percent of gross domestic product, a government source said.
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