(10 Sep 2024)
LEBANON PROTEST
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
LENGTH: 1:41
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Beirut, Lebanon – 10 September 2024
1. Various of tires set on fire, blocking a road leading to the prime minister’s office in downtown
2. Various of protesters attempting to cut barbed wire fence
3. Various of protesters dragging a barbed wire fence
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Andre Bou Maachar, retired from Lebanese army:
"The budget imposes taxes on us based on an exchange rate of 89,000 (per dollar). We are paying all bills, including water and electricity, at the rate of 89,000 (per dollar), while our salaries remain at the rate of 15,000 (Lebanese pounds to the dollar). The highest-ranking soldier earns $220. We want our salaries to return to their pre-2019 levels. If our rights are not recognized, there will be no budget, and we will continue our movement until our demands are met."
5. Various of protesters in downtown Beirut
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammad Kassem, retired civilian:
"Unfortunately, in the 2025 budget, this government is repeating the same experiment it carried out in 2024 by increasing taxes and fees by 30 to 60 times (in 2024). Now, they want to finance 30% of the budget deficit from our pockets by imposing new taxes and fees that go up to 70 times."
7. Lebanese army personnel standing in line holding riot shields at security cordon
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of retired Lebanese army soldiers blocked the entrances leading to the government headquarters in central Beirut, preventing the Cabinet from holding a session to discuss the new state budget.
Since the early hours of the day, the protesters closed all roads leading to the government headquarters, also known as the Grand Serail, preventing ministers from reaching the building.
The retired soldiers were demanding salary increases amid Lebanon’s unprecedented five-year economic crisis, which has led to the collapse of the Lebanese lira.
We are paying all bills, including water and electricity, at the rate of 89,000 (per dollar), while our salaries remain at the rate of 15,000 (Lebanese pounds to the dollar)," said Andre Bou Maachar, a retired Lebanese Army officer. “We want our salaries to return to their pre-2019 levels.”
He emphasized that if their demands are not met, they will continue the protest.
At one point, some protesters attempted to cut through barbed wire that had been put in place near the Grand Serail.
Most people in Lebanon are paid in Lebanese pounds and have seen their salaries’ value decline as the pound has crashed.
The demands of other retired civilians during the protest were similar to those of the army.
"They want to finance 30% of the budget deficit from our pockets by imposing new taxes and fees," said Mohammad Kassem, a retired civilian.
Lebanon is in the grips of the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history, rooted in decades of corruption and mismanagement by a political class that has ruled the country since the end of the 1975-90 civil war.
The political class in Lebanon has also resisted the implementation of reforms demanded by the international community.
Since the economic meltdown began, three-quarters of the population, which includes 1 million Syrian refugees, now lives in poverty and inflation is soaring.
AP video shot by Fadi Tawil and Mahamad Anouti
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/d190f744aaf6406eb868d2df358c17c3
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in September 15, 2024, 3:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
