BEIRUT: Lebanese Army troops were deployed near the home of parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday as protesters targeted people they believe are a “privileged elite.”
Groups of demonstrators have followed political and economic leaders into restaurants and cafes to protest and accuse them of theft. They include former minister Adnan Kassar, the wife of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Nada Riad Salameh, and the secretary-general of the Future Movement, Ahmad Hariri.
There was further anger on Saturday when video footage emerged of bodyguards for Hariri, cousin of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, apparently attacking protesters inside an upmarket Italian restaurant in Beirut.
Hackled in Restaurants, Cafes: Protesters Go After The Privileged Elite in Lebanon Published December 13th, 2020 - 08:16 GMT
Lebanese protesters demand better living conditions and the removal of a cast of politicians who have monopolised power and influence for decades at Riad al-Solh Square in Beirut (AFP)
Highlights
Anger as politician’s bodyguards attack demonstrators in upmarket Beirut restaurant.
Lebanese Army troops were deployed near the home of parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri on Saturday as protesters targeted people they believe are a “privileged elite.”
Groups of demonstrators have followed political and economic leaders into restaurants and cafes to protest and accuse them of theft. They include former minister Adnan Kassar, the wife of the governor of the Banque du Liban, Nada Riad Salameh, and the secretary-general of the Future Movement, Ahmad Hariri.
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BEIRUT: Student movements at Lebanese universities and independent civic groups are reorganizing themselves with the goal of changing the ruling authority in Lebanon.
Secular and independent clubs affiliated with the Mada network in Lebanon’s universities launched the “Declaration of Lebanese Students” on Saturday, in light of “the unprecedented risks threatening students, especially the crisis of the dollarization of tuition fees.”
That dollarization has seen tuition fees start to massively increase at institutions across the country, following decisions to adopt the Lebanese Central Bank’s new exchange rate of 3,900 Lebanese pounds to the dollar. The American University of Beirut (AUB) saw its tuition costs increase 160 percent alone as a result.