Lebanon: 59 arrested after protest clashes near central bank

BEIRUT — Lebanese security forces arrest 59 people, police say, following clashes overnight outside the central bank as angry protesters vent their fury against the country’s ruling elite and the worsening financial crisis.

The hours-long clashes that erupted on Tuesday evening also left 47 policemen injured, the security forces say, as some protesters smash windows on private banks in Beirut’s key commercial district.

Earlier on Tuesday, protesters rallied outside the central bank in the bustling Hamra neighborhood, denouncing the bank governor and policies they say have only deepened the country’s financial woes.

The rally turned violent as protesters tried to push their way through the security forces deployed outside the bank. In over five hours of pitched street battles, security forces lobbed volleys of tear gas at the protesters, who responded with rocks and firecrackers.

Some protesters, using metal bars and sticks, smashed windows on commercial banks and foreign exchange bureaus nearby. The clashes marked an end to a lull in the three-months-long protests.

Lebanon is facing its worst economic troubles in decades. One of the most highly indebted countries in the world, it imports almost all basic goods but foreign currency sources have dried up. The local currency has lost over 60% of its value — dropping for the first time in nearly three decades from a fixed rate of 1,507 pounds to the dollar to 2,400 in just the past few weeks.

— AP