Anger, fire and broken glass in Badaro as LBP hits 80,000
Protestors, on Thursday, blocked roads in Badaro, burned tires and tried to smash the windows of some banks in the area, as banks closed their doors to customers amid an unprecedented economic crisis.
The angry protestors set fire in front of Fransabank and Bank Audi by burning tires. The fire was later extinguished by firefighters of the Beirut Fire Brigade.
The protestors also burned tires in front of the BBAC Bank and tried to break its windows and the windows of Byblos Bank and the Banque Libano-Française.
The Lebanese pound on Thursday hit a record low against the dollar on the black market, trading over 80,000 to the dollar, compared with 60,000 at the start of the month.
Meanwhile, commercial banks closed their doors to customers, in an “open-ended strike", in protest of a court ruling that forced one of the country's largest banks, Fransabank, to pay out two of its depositors their trapped savings in cash.
After leaving Badaro, the protestors headed to the house of Banks Association chairman Salim Sfeir in Sin El Fil and tried to break its entrance doors as they set fire around the house.
"The aim of the protests is to send a last warning to the banks and their association," the Mottahidoun protest movement group said, adding that the banks must stop abusing the depositors and urging Fransabank to abide by the Court of Cassation's ruling.
"They stole, seized and looted our money three years ago," said protester Pascal al-Raisi.
"There are owners of millions of dollars among us without even a penny in their pockets.
"There is no other solution. We will escalate until we regain our rights."
Lebanon's economic crisis has left many struggling to make ends meet in a country where poverty rates have reached 80 percent of the population, according to the United Nations.
The pound's plunge has triggered a wave of price hikes including on fuel, food items and other basic goods.
Lebanon is being run by a caretaker government and is also without a president, as lawmakers have repeatedly failed to elect a successor to Michel Aoun, whose mandate expired at the end of October.
Source: Naharnet
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