Fresh rioting in Lebanon as economic despair grows

TRIPOLI, Lebanon — Hundreds of protesters in Lebanon’s northern city of Tripoli set fire to two banks and hurl stones at soldiers who respond with tear gas and batons in renewed clashes triggered by an economic crisis spiraling out of control amid a weeks-long virus lockdown.

The clashes got underway in the afternoon hours after a tense funeral was held for a 27-year-old man killed during riots overnight in the country’s second largest city. Fawwaz Samman was shot by soldiers during confrontations that began last night and died in a hospital hours later.

Tripoli, a predominantly Sunni Muslim city, is in one of the most neglected and poorest regions in Lebanon, and there were concerns the confrontations would escalate to wider chaos.

The violence is a reflection of the rising poverty and despair gripping the country amid a crippling financial crisis that has worsened since October, when nationwide protests against a corrupt political class broke out. A lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus has further aggravated the crisis, throwing tens of thousands more people out of work.

The national currency has lost more than 50% of its value, and banks have imposed crippling capital controls amid a liquidity crunch. But it appears to be in a free fall over the last few days, selling as low as 4,000 Lebanese pounds to the dollar, down from a fixed peg of 1,500 pounds to the dollar in place for 30 years.

— AP