Dozens hurt as Beirut rubbish demos turn on government

Protesters demanding the Lebanese government resign over its failure to remove uncollected rubbish from the streets clashed on Sunday with police in Beirut for a second day, leaving dozens injured.

The clashes came hours after Prime Minister Tammam Salam pleaded for calm and said he was ready to meet members of the "You Stink" movement which is organising the protest and has blamed political divisions for the crisis.

Anger about rubbish overflowing in the streets since Lebanon's largest landfill was closed on July 19 boiled over on Saturday when thousands rallied outside the prime minister's office in central Beirut.

But the peaceful demonstration quickly turned violent as groups of protesters pelted police with water bottles and firecrackers.

Police responded with tear gas, water cannon and gunfire as some protesters tried to pull down barricades and barbed wire.

A Red Cross official said at least 16 people had been wounded in Saturday's clashes. Lebanon's Internal Security Forces said more than 35 of its members were injured.

Hours after Salam pledged to hold accountable those responsible for using "excessive force against civil society and against the people", violence broke out again Sunday in Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square.

Around 200 youths, some wearing scarves or masks to cover their faces, threw stones and bottles filled with sand at police and tried to pull down security barricades, an AFP correspondent said.

They also set on fire a motorcycle and tried to erect their own barricades using tables and wood.

Police retaliated with water cannon and tear gas.

Some protesters suffered smoke inhalation and were taken away by ambulances for treatment.

A Lebanese Red Cross official said 30 protesters were injured and taken to hospital on Sunday.

Shots also rang out in central Beirut, near the prime minister's office, where thousands of people had rallied peacefully during the day before the violence broke out.

It was not immediately clear if the shots were live fire, blanks, or rubber bullets.

Protesters chanted "Down with the regime" and "Freedom", slogans borrowed from the Arab Spring uprisings that toppled several governments in the region.

One demonstrator held up a placard with a bold red message that said "Some trash should not be recycled" and below it the pictures of more than a dozen of top politicians.

- 'Political trash' -

The "You Stink" movement that organised the rally insisted they were opposed to violence and distanced themselves from those attacking security forces.

"They're not among us... they're a very small group of troublemakers," said Joey Ayoub, who sits on You Stink's organising committee.

He told AFP that his movement had moved the protest from Riad al-Solh Square, where the clashes occurred, to nearby Martyrs Square "to show that we are not involved in this violence".

Ayoub said the movement's most pressing demand was for security forces to be held accountable for Saturday's use of force.

An online statement also called for the prosecution of Interior Minister Nuhad Mashnuq.

Furious demonstrators have posted videos and photos on social media of security forces firing into the air and beating back protesters during Saturday's unrest.

The prime minister tried to ease tensions, saying he was ready to meet with a You Stink delegation, saying "I am ready to listen to you and sit with you".

"We cannot allow yesterday's events to pass without accountability and follow-up," said Salam.

He called on Lebanon's cabinet to meet this week to find a solution to the crisis, railing against political divisions that have paralysed the country's institutions

Profound political rifts have kept Lebanon without a head of state since May 2014, leaving a caretaker cabinet -- also deeply divided -- in charge.

Salam said the country's trash crisis was the "straw that broke the camel's back."

"But the story is bigger than this straw. This is about the political trash in this country," he said.

Furious demonstrators have posted videos and photos on social media of security forces firing into the air and beating back protesters during the weekend's unrest.
Source: AFP