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In Lebanon, a sign of a gradual return to normal, banks have reopened this Friday, November 1 for the first time since the beginning of the movement there are 15 days. The protests continue even though they are smaller since the resignation of Prime Minister Saad Hariri on Tuesday 29 October.
From our special correspondent in Beirut , Murielle Paradon
Early in the morning, queues formed in several places in front of the banks, but quickly, the situation normalized in downtown Beirut. The situation was calm. The banks had been closed for 15 days since the beginning of the protest, which had never happened in Lebanon. Even if money distributors remained accessible.
The big fear was to see this morning an influx of Lebanese come make money transfers, get their funds out of the country , for fear of seeing the Lebanese pound collapse. But the banking authorities have given reassuring messages and called not to panic.
The only incident this Friday morning in Beirut, a small group of demonstrators stormed the headquarters of the Lebanese Banks Association. Some were arrested by the police. They wanted to denounce the fact that the banks protect, according to them, the money of politicians deemed corrupt .
They also demand the end of the dependence of the Lebanese pound on the US dollar. Protesters who are few in the center of Beirut during the day, but who, in the evening, mobilize again.
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