Lebanese riot police face off with protesters
Anti-government protesters gathered outside the country's interior ministry, protesting against the Lebanese speaker's security forces who clashed with them earlier, after they tried to stage a sit-in outside the speaker's residence.
An anti-government protester shouts slogans in font of riot policemen who wear masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, during a protest near the interior ministry against the political leadership they blame for the economic and financial crisis, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May 29, 2020.
Scuffles erupted between anti-government protesters and security forces outside the Interior Ministry in Beirut on Friday night.
Anti-government protesters gathered outside the country's interior ministry, protesting against the Lebanese speaker's security forces who clashed with them earlier, after they tried to stage a sit-in outside the speaker's residence.
Speaker Nabih Berri's supporters also rushed to the scene to stop the anti-government protesters as they were chanting slogans against their leader.
Anti-riot police tried to separate the two rival groups.
Protesters first took to the streets of Lebanon in October, over proposed new taxes.
But the nationwide demonstrations quickly grew into calls for an end to the rule of the political elite that has run the country for decades.
Protesters blame the ruling politicians for widespread corruption and mismanagement, which they say are the main reasons for the country's financial crisis.
Lebanon has been facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with unemployment figures soaring and the local currency losing more than half of its value against the dollar.
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