Lebanese Take to Streets again as Lira Collapses against US Dollar

Dozens of Lebanese demonstrated today, Saturday, in more than one region of the country, coinciding with the record collapse of the Lebanese currency, in which it fell to 12 thousand liras for the dollar.

The protesters gathered in   Shuhada   (Martyrs) Square in central Beirut.

And the protesters were joined by retired military personnel, who withdrew after a number of young men tried to storm an entrance to the Parliament and throw stones at the security forces, while Parliament police used tear gas to disperse the protesters.

The demonstrators also blocked Beirut-Sidon road with burning tires, in protest against the deteriorating living conditions and the high exchange rate of the dollar.

On the other hand, the Lebanese Minister of Interior in the caretaker government, Mohamed Fahmy, stated that the security situation in Lebanon "has faded" and the country "is exposed to all possibilities, not just assassinations."

In an interview with the "Talk On" program, broadcast by the Lebanese VDL News and Lebanon On and the Voice of All Lebanon radio, today, Wednesday, the minister said, "There is a state of chaos over the entire Lebanese territory due to the differences between the sectarian   components and political parties, which led to the disappearance of all systems, economic, security, financial, social, health and cultural."

And he considered that "the security forces are depleting every day and we have reached the lowest point. We are unable to carry out 90% of our tasks to protect the homeland and the citizens, in addition to our mechanisms that we describe are disabled and the value of the security forces’ salaries has declined by a large rate", he said.

He pointed out that "the security situation has completely disappeared today and the country is exposed to all possibilities, not just assassinations."

The minister affirmed  that "the solution begins with forming a salvation government for what remains of this country, and the constitution does not allow designated Prime Minister  Hassan