Lebanon PM to step down after two weeks of protests

BEIRUT: Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday announced he was submitting the resignation of his government, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests. Saad Hariri´s express and sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

"It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the Baabda Palace to give my resignation," said Hariri, who had already resigned twice in the past from that same job.

He said his decision comes "in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change" in protests he called "historic". Hariri´s move came after days of apparently unfruitful efforts to reshuffle posts among his uneasy coalition partners and also as tension mounted on the ground between protesters and security forces bent on re-opening the country for business. A nationwide cross-sectarian protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, calling for an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt. Banks and schools have remained closed and the normally congested main arteries in Beirut blocked by protesters, despite the government’s adoption of an emergency economic rescue plan last week.

The unprecedented protest movement had been relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by party loyalists to stage counter-demonstrations. But on Tuesday, dozens of rioters descended on a rally site near the government headquarters, where they attacked protesters, torched tents, and tore down banners calling for "revolution", said an AFP correspondent in the area. They dismantled podiums and broke speakers as streams of people flooded out in panic.

The same counter-demonstrators had gathered on a nearby road where they attacked peaceful protesters who were blocking the key artery. The counter-protesters chanted slogans hailing the leaders of two Shiite movements as they pushed roadblocks aside and provoked protesters.