Protesters keep heat on 'corrupt' political class in Lebanon unrest

Protesters in Lebanon rejected sweeping economic reforms announced by the government yesterday, saying they would not go home until the entire cabinet resigned.

Large crowds gathered outside the parliament building in the capital Beirut, as they have been for days, venting their anger at what they see as a corrupt political class.

Saad al-Hariri, the prime minister, drew up a package of reforms which included



halving MPs' salaries, the overhaul of the electricity sector, and a draft law that would see the return of money plundered from the state. Mr Hariri tried to placate the protesters, saying: "I'm not asking you to stop protesting or to express your anger. That is a decision that you take."

Protesters responded with chants of "thieves, thieves!", calling the reforms "proof" the country's leaders had for decades been "robbing them blind".