Thousands of Lebanese protesters gather in Beirut

Thousands of people began gathering today amid tight security in downtown Beirut, ahead of a major rally to protest government corruption and the country's dysfunctional political system.
At least two or three armoured personnel carriers were deployed around the prime minister's office. A man over a megaphone chanted: "Declare it a revolution!"
The protest is expected to be the largest of the demonstrations that began last week over garbage piling up in the streets of Beirut, following the closure of a main landfill. But the government's failure to resolve the crisis has evolved into wider protests against a political class that has dominated Lebanon since the end of the country's civil war in 1990.

Two protests last weekend outside the prime minister's office drew up to 20,000 people and were generally peaceful. But the rallies turned violent when security forces used batons, tear gas and water cannons to disperse groups of people who tried to break the security cordon around the prime minister's office.
There were concerns that the protest would also descend into clashes. To avoid friction with security forces, organisers of the protest shifted the location from Riyad Solh square opposite the government building known as the Grand Serail to Martyr's Square, a major square few hundred meters away.
The government said a joint security-military operations room was set up to prevent chaos.

Thousands of people gathered in downtown Beirut, many of them waving Lebanese flags and wearing white T-shirts that read "You Stink," the name of the main activist group behind the protests.

The London-based rights group Amnesty International called on Lebanese authorities today to investigate allegations that security forces have used excessive force to disperse rallies.
Amnesty said security forces fired live rounds, used rubber bullets and hurled stones or beat protesters, leaving 59 people hospitalized. It called on security forces to refrain from using "unnecessary or excessive" force during the protest.
"Everyone in Lebanon has the right to peaceful assembly. Lebanese officials must uphold this right and send a clear message to security personnel that such attacks against peaceful protesters will not be tolerated," said Lama Fakih, senior crisis adviser at Amnesty International.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk acknowledged there were "mistakes" that led to the excessive use of force and said an investigation was under way. Officials say more than 100 security personnel were also injured.