BEIRUT (Reuters) – Some Lebanese called for an ongoing uprising on Sunday to assassinate their leaders amid public outrage over this week’s devastating explosion in Beirut, and the country’s top Christian Maronite church said the cabinet should resign to take.
A man walks past a truck that caught fire during a protest in Martyrs’ Square, following the explosion on Tuesday in Beirut, Lebanon on August 9, 2020. REUTERS / Thaier Al-Sudani
Protesters have called on the government to stop what they say was negligence leading to Tuesday’s explosion. Anger booked over Saturday in violent scenes in Central Beirut.
Christian Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said the cabinet should resign because it could not change “the way it governs”.
“The dismissal of an MP as a minister is not enough … the whole government would have to resign because it can not help the country to recover,” he said in his sermon on Sunday.
Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad said she resigned on Sunday, citing the explosion and failure of the government to carry out reform.
Saturday’s protests were the biggest since October when thousands of people took to the streets to put an end to corruption, mismanagement and mismanagement.
Around 10,000 people gathered in Martyrs’ Square, which was transformed into a battle zone between police and Protestants that evening, trying to break a barrier along a road leading to Parliament. Some protesters stormed government offices and the Association of Lebanese Banks.
People smashed dozens of tug-of-war canisters that shot at them and threw stones and fireworks at riot police, some of whom were taken to ambulances. One police officer was killed and the Red Cross said more than 170 people had been injured.
‘The police shot at me. But that will not stop us from demonstrating until we change the government from top to bottom, “said Younis Flayti, 55, a retired army officer on Sunday.
Nearby, mechanic Sabir Jamali sat next to a window pinned to a wooden frame in Martyrs’ Square, intended as a symbolic warning to Lebanese leaders to fire or hang face to face.
“Every leader who oppresses us must be hanged,” he said, adding that he would protest again.
Soldiers in cars mounted with machine guns were stationed next to the square on Sunday.
Tuesday’s catastrophic explosion killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000, destroying parts of the city and causing months of political and economic burglary.
“People have to sleep in the streets and demonstrate against the government until it falls,” said lawyer Maya Habli, as she examined the demolished harbor where the explosion erupted.
The Prime Minister and the Presidency have said that 2,750 tonnes of highly explosive ammonium nitrate, which is used in the manufacture of fertilizers and bombs, were stored for six years without security measures at the port warehouse.
The government has said it will hold those responsible accountable.
GUTTED NEIGHBORHOODS
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday hosted U.S. President Donald Trump and other political leaders for a conference with UN donors through video to increase emergency relief for Lebanon.
The blast shook a city from economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. For many, it was a horrific memory of the 1975-1990 civil war that tore the nation apart and destroyed swords of Beirut, many of which have since been rebuilt.
“I worked in sanitation in Kuwait for 15 years to save money and build a gift shop in Lebanon and it was destroyed by the explosion,” said Maroun Shehadi.
“Nothing will change until our leaders just leave.”
The explosion shut down for weeks.
When it hit, John Gharzo ran out of his apartment dripping blood on chairs.
“This is Lebanon. Nothing will change until someone else leads us, ”said the retired builder.
Additional Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Richard Lough; Edited by Frances Kerry
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