Lebanon's unprecedented economic and financial crisis has taken a huge toll on the hospitality sector, a mainstay of the Lebanese economy, with hundreds of restaurants closing and hotel occupancy plummeting.

There have been talks about the tiny Mediterranean country heading toward economic bankruptcy akin to Greece's 2009 crisis in recent years. But business owners said they really began to feel the economic crunch after protests swept the country on Oct. 17, paralyzing businesses with road closures and strikes as the crisis intensified.

Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri received on Friday at the Center House, Prime Minister-designate Hassan Diab.

Scuffles erupted between the Lebanese army and supporters of ex-PM Saad Hariri in Beirut’s Corniche al-Mazraa street on Friday, over the designation of AUB professor Hassan Diab for PM.

Lebanon's new prime minister-designate, Hassan Diab, said in an interview with Deutsche Welle aired Friday that he expected full European and US support for his government.

He rejected suggestions that the support his nomination received from Hizbullah, which is blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Washington, would hinder the disbursement of much-needed Western aid.

U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale arrived in Beirut to meet with a broad range of Lebanese officials, the U.S. embassy said in a statement on Friday.

Hale held talks with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace after which he read a statement saying his visit to Lebanon came at the request of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Former PM Saad Hariri said in a telephone interview Thursday evening on Sar al-Waqt MTV program that salvation of Lebanon can be attained through the formation of a government of specialists, urging everyone to join efforts and listen to the demands of the revolution in light of the economic and political crisis.

Protesters blocked roads across crisis-hit Lebanon Friday to condemn the designation of Hizbullah-backed Hassan Diab as prime minister in a divisive vote that sparked uproar among members of the Sunni community.

In the Bekaa region, roads blocked with burning tires and dirt mounds late on Thursday are still inaccessible today, and include: Qob Elias, Dahr al-Baydar, Jdeita, Bwerij and Majdal Anjar.

Caretaker Prime Minister and al-Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on Thursday urged his supporters not to take to the streets or block roads, in the wake of the appointment of the academic and ex-minister Hassan Diab as PM-designate.

“I call on all supporters and enthusiasts to reject any call for taking to the streets or blocking roads,” Hariri tweeted, after his supporters blocked roads in several Lebanese regions and rallied outside Diab’s house in Tallet al-Khayat.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat took a swipe Thursday at his former March 14 allies al-Mustaqbal Movement and the Lebanese Forces for refraining from voting for Lebanon’s former envoy to the U.N. Nawaf Salam in the binding parliamentary consultations to name a new PM.

“It is not strange for the March 8 forces to choose their candidate and succeed in doing so, seeing as they at least have a project,” Jumblat tweeted.

Protesters rejecting the appointment of the academic and ex-minister Hassan Diab as PM-designate on Thursday took to the streets in several regions to denounce the designation.

A number of angry young men who said they came from Tariq al-Jedideh rallied outside Diab’s residence in Beirut’s Tallet al-Khayat area.