Demonstrators Rally to Prevent ISF from Dismantling Beirut Protest Camp

Anti-government demonstrators on Tuesday flocked to Martyrs Square in downtown Beirut to assist their comrades in re-blocking roads reopened by security forces.

The roads that go through the protest camp had been closed by security forces since the first days of the October 17 uprising.

Some of the protesters arrived in a convoy from Zouk Mikail to help their comrades at the square.

Security forces had removed the metallic barriers and reopened the road from An-Nahar newspaper’s building towards the Mohammed al-Amin Mosque.

Protesters rejected the move and re-blocked the road with their bodies and returned the metal barriers to their place. They also parked a car in the middle of the street, waving Lebanese flags and chanting revolutionary slogans.

The protesters decried that security forces were trying to dismantle their protest camp. The National News Agency meanwhile said that security forces have not removed any tent from the square.

Later in the day, Interior Minister Mohammed Fahmi issued a statement denying that he has ordered the removal of the protest camp and noting that the removal of metal barriers was aimed at "facilitating the flow of traffic."

He also emphasized on "the freedom of peaceful assembly and expression," describing it as "a right enshrined in the constitution and applicable laws."