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 broke into violent scenes in central Beirut on Saturday.
Christian Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros al-Rai said the cabinet should resign if it could not change “the way it governs”.
“The dismissal of an MP as a minister is not enough (..) the whole government must resign if 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.
Thousands of people were injured in Saturday’s protests, the largest since October when thousands took to the streets in protest against 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.
Protesters beat dozens of tug-of-caners who shot at them and threw stones and burns at riot police, some of whom were taken to ambulances. One police officer was killed.
The Red Cross said it had treated 117 people for injuries at the scene on Saturday, while another 55 were taken to hospital.
Soldiers in cars mounted with machine guns were stationed next to Martyrs’ Square on Sunday.
“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 blast killed 158 people and injured more than 6,000, destroying parts of the city and destroying months of political and economic burglary. Twenty-one people were still reported missing.
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.
“Look at this,” said Eli Yazbak, the manager of a fashion company whose headquarters were destroyed by 10 stories in the blast.
“It simply came to our notice then. We are facing crisis after crisis in Lebanon. It is time for the government to step down and allow people to run the country. ”
Additional Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli and Richard Lough; Edited by Frances Kerry
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