Al-Hassan Says PM Resignation Prevented Strife, Supporters Urged Not to Protest

Interior Minister Raya al-Hassan on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent “civil strife” in the country.

“PM Saad Hariri’s resignation was necessary to prevent a descent into civil strife,” al-Hassan tweeted, noting that the risk of violence had been manifested in the attacks on protesters in central Beirut which occurred shortly before Hariri’s announcement.

Al-Mustaqbal Movement meanwhile issued a statement urging its supporters to refrain from staging street protests over Hariri’s resignation, after they blocked several roads in the capital and northern Lebanon and in the Naameh area south of Beirut.