Lebanon's Christian party pulls out of embattled government

A Lebanese Christian leader has asked his four ministers in the Cabinet to resign amid nationwide protests against the country's political elite.

Samir Geagea, who heads the right-wing Lebanese Forces party, said late Saturday he no longer believes the current national unity government headed by Premier Saad Hariri can steer the country out of a deepening economic crisis.

The protesters are calling for the government to resign.

The resignation is another test for the government that has been shaken by the protests, blaming the current political class for amassing wealth but doing little to fix a crumbling economy and dilapidated infrastructure.

The resignation, however, does not collapse the 30-member Cabinet. Prime Minister Saad Hariri had given his partners in government until Monday to find ways to deal with the current crisis, blaming them for refusing his proposed reform.

Arab nations

Arab Gulf nations are encouraging their citizens to leave Lebanon amid violent nationwide protests over the country's worsening economic crisis.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency says Saudi Arabian nationals have been warned against travelling to Lebanon and those already there are being asked to take utmost caution. The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain went a step further, calling on their citizens to leave amid the unrest.

Protests continued Saturday for a third day. Thousands of protesters have been rallying across the country, closing major roads over proposed taxes by the government. They've been railing against top leaders including the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, whom they blame for decades of corruption, and calling for the government's resignation.

Hezbollah

Lebanon's influential Hezbollah leader says he doesn't support the government's resignation amid nationwide protests calling for politicians to step down over a deepening economic crisis.

Hassan Nasrallah said Saturday that calls for the current national unity government to resign are "a waste of time" since the same political groups will haggle over forming a new one.

Large scale protests that have targeted the country's entire political class have brought Lebanon to a standstill since Thursday.

Nasrallah warned the protesters against being pulled into political rivalries, saying that would derail their message. He said politicians who shirk responsibility, by quitting the Cabinet while the economy crumbles, should be brought to trial.

Lebanon's prime minister gave his partners in government a 72-hour ultimatum to come up with convincing solutions amid the pressures.

Third day of protests

Tens of thousands of Lebanese people took to the streets Saturday for a third day of protests against tax increases and alleged official corruption despite several arrests by security forces.

They streamed into the streets around the country's parliament in Beirut, as well as elsewhere across the country, AFP journalists said, despite calls for calm from politicians and dozens of arrests on Friday.

The number of protesters grew steadily throughout the day, with major demonstrations in second city Tripoli, in the north, and other locations.

Many waved billowing Lebanese flags and insisted the protests should remain peaceful and non-sectarian.

The demonstrators are demanding a sweeping overhaul of Lebanon's political system, citing grievances ranging from austerity measures to poor infrastructure.

They have crippled main roads and threatened to topple the country's fragile coalition government.

Most Lebanese politicians have uncharacteristically admitted the demonstrations are spontaneous, rather than blaming outside influence.

In Tripoli demonstrator Hoda Sayyur was unimpressed by the contrition some leaders displayed on television and echoed a widely-held hope that the entire political class be replaced.

"They took all our fundamental rights... We are dying at hospital gates," the woman in her fifties said.

"I will stay in the street... Since I was born, we've been spectators to their quarrels and corruption," she said.

The army on Saturday called on protesters to "express themselves peacefully without harming public and private property".

Ultimatum

Saturday evening thousands were again packed into the Riyadh al Solh Square in central Beirut, despite security forces using tear gas and water cannons to disperse similar crowds a day before.

The Internal Security Forces said 70 arrests were made Friday on accusations of theft and arson.

But all of those held at the main police barracks were released Saturday, the National News Agency (NNA) said.

It said that the father of one man detained tried to set himself on fire in front of a police station.

The demonstrations first erupted on Thursday, sparked by a proposed 20 cent tax on calls via messaging apps such as WhatsApp.

Such calls are the main method of communication for many Lebanese and, despite the government's swift abandonment of the tax, the demonstrations quickly swelled into the largest in years.

Prime Minister Saad Hariri has given his deeply divided coalition until Monday evening to give their backing to a reform package aimed at shoring up the government's finances and securing the disbursement of desperately needed economic assistance from donors.

He held a series of meetings Saturday regarding the situation, NNA said.

'Protesters beaten'

In the southern port city of Tyre, supporters of Shia politician and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri attacked protesters Saturday, a witness said, a day after demonstrators had accused him of corruption.

His Amal political party condemned the attack and called for an investigation.

More than a quarter of the Lebanese population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.

Many of the country's senior politicians came to prominence during the country's 15-year civil war, which ended in 1990.

A protester in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold, said protesters are demanding their "rights". protesting.

"They are trying to portray us as a mob, but we are demanding our rights," he told a local television channel. "We are used to repression."

Lebanon has one of the highest public debt burdens in the world and the government is trying to reach agreement on a package of belt-tightening measures to cap the deficit in next year's budget.

The promised austerity moves are essential if Lebanon is to unlock $11 billion in economic assistance pledged by international donors last year.

Growth has plummeted in recent years, with political deadlock compounded by the impact of eight years of war in neighbouring Syria.

Lebanon's public debt stands at around $86 billion – more than 150 percent of gross domestic product – according to the finance ministry.