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Demonstrations continue for 3rd day in Lebanon

BEIRUT, Oct 19 (KUNA) -- Lebanese held demonstrations for the third consecutive day on Saturday protesting deteriorating living conditions.
Official National News Agency (NNA) said many roads remained blocked for the third day, however army troops reopened some of them including part of the vital Beirut-Tripoli highway in the port of Chekka.
Today's protestors marched from Riad Al-Solh square in downtown Beirut, reiterating their demands and condemning acts of sabotage that occurred over the past hours by some mobs who damaged properties and stores.
Security personnel arrested a number of the protestors and saboteurs in the city center during the night.
In the south, protests continued with activists blocking roads and erecting tents at public locations.
The NNA said the demonstrators blocked the road to the south in Khalde, located just south of the capital, placing burning tires and other hurdles.
The demonstrators have been chanting against taxation, unemployment, inflation and demanding serious and actual clampdown on corrupt officials.
The protests continued after Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri declared a 72 hour ultimatum to his "partners" in the administration to explicitly affirm their support for reforms he has been spearheading.
The government has been grappling with a budget deficit and deep-rooted corruption, seen in over spending and excessive paying to some senior civil servants, contrary to terms of international donors that have pledged to help the nation alleviate the economic-financial crisis.
The demonstrations broke out after a declaration to impose taxes on text messaging, capping a series of quite unpopular tight-belt measures by the authorities.
Two days before the protests, the country witnessed wide scale wild fires that inflicted extensive damage and took the life of one civil defense member. The catastrophe revealed that three helicopters that had been purchased with donation money were impounded due to lack of government maintenance allocations. (end) kbc.rk