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Security Forces Fire Tear Gas, Rubber Bullets in Beirut Protest

Reuters

   BEIRUT - Security forces on Saturday firedtear gas and rubber bullets
   at protesters in Beirut, some ofwhom tried to break into a barricaded
   central district ofLebanon's capital.

   Hundreds of people were gathered as part of a wave ofprotests that have
   swept Lebanon since October17, furious at aruling elite that steered
   the country toward its worst economiccrisis in decades.

   Since the protests pushed Saad al-Hariri to resign as primeminister in
   late October, talks between the main parties havebeen deadlocked over
   forming a new cabinet.

   Donors leery

   Lebanon urgently needs a new government to pull it out ofthe
   crisis,which has also shaken confidence in its bankingsystem. Foreign
   donors say they will help the countryonly after itgets a cabinet that
   can enact reforms.

   Riot police and security forces deployed en masse in Beiruton Saturday
   night, chasing demonstrators in the street, beatingand detaining some
   of them, a Reuters witness and a protestersaid.

   The forces fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets assome
   protesters tried to push through steel barriers blockingpaths to the
   parliament and government headquarters.

   State news agency NNA said the tear gas had made severalpeople faint,
   while the Lebanese Red Cross said 14 people wereinjured, six of them
   badly enough to need hospitaltreatment.

   The unrest erupted from a buildup of anger at the risingcost of living,
   new tax plans and the record of leadersdominating the country since the
   1975-90 civil war. Protestersaccuse the political class of milking the
   state for their ownbenefit through networks of patronage.

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