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BEIRUT: New Year’s Eve festivities in Lebanon may not go off with quite the same bang as in previous years if the government has its way.
Lebanese who enjoy ringing in the new year with celebratory gunfire are in the government’s sights amid a security crackdown, with one minister taking aim at what he described as “delinquent and criminal acts.”
Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi announced a security plan to be implemented during the holidays all across Lebanon.
“The security forces have the right to act automatically to confront any delinquent or criminal act, and the measures will include protecting Rafic Hariri International Airport,” he warned.
On Wednesday, the Central Security Council, chaired by Mawlawi, met security and judicial leaders.
Mawlawi said: “We will try to limit celebratory gunfire on New Year’s Eve, and we will tighten security around the airport to prevent random gunfire.”
Security and military services will enforce a ban on carrying weapons, the minister added.
“We will not accept chaos and instability,” he said.
Mawlawi said that extra measures will also be put in place to crack down on smuggling at the airport.
New Year’s Eve festivities in Lebanon in recent years have been marred by mayhem and injury. Last year, a Syrian refugee was killed by a stray bullet when celebrations got out of hand.
The latest government intervention comes after Moroccan football fans, supposedly from the Muslim-majority Tariq Al-Jadidah area in Beirut, rode motorcycles into Sassine Square in the Christian-majority Ashrafieh district of Beirut on Saturday, raising Palestinian flags and chanting religious slogans.
Troops were called in to stop the volatile situation escalating.
The Council of Maronite Bishops met on Wednesday and issued a statement, saying: “We denounce security chaos and what happened in Sassine Square.”
The statement called on security forces to take preemptive measures to avoid any future friction.
Meanwhile, the army said that units made a number of arrests and seized military weapons, rifles and ammunition following raids in the Bekaa and Lebanon North regions.
A pickup truck loaded with drugs was seized at an army checkpoint in the Hermel area, a smuggling hotspot.
Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim, director general of General Security, recently warned of the worsening security outlook, saying: “The social situation will implode sooner or later. This must be remedied with intensive and serious work.”
Tough security measures and crackdowns come against the backdrop of a three-year crisis that has plagued Lebanon, a situation exacerbated by a growing political inability to elect a president and the failure to approve the capital control bill.
Amid an economic collapse and with the national currency losing over 90 percent of its value, many middle-class Lebanese have fallen below the poverty line.
Human Rights Watch warned in a statement that growing numbers of families are unable to secure their social and economic rights, with those on limited incomes bearing the brunt of the financial crisis.
HRW urged the Lebanese government and World Bank to take urgent measures and invest in a rights-based social protection system that guarantees a decent standard of living for all.
The EU Delegation to Lebanon on Wednesday announced a €229 million ($243 million) aid allocation to promote reforms and economic development.
Funding will be directed at reforming the civil service, public financial management and access to information.
The delegation said that Syrian refugees in Lebanon will continue to receive EU support in social protection, education, health care and water provision.