The popular protests that have mobilized hundreds of thousands of Lebanese over the past 12 days showed no signs of letting up Monday despite a dwindling number of participants. Turnout was lower than on the previous days of the anti-government protests, exacerbated by intermittent downpours throughout the day.
Clashes between demonstrators and security forces were kept to a minimum, despite expectations that the authorities might attempt to open streets by force following a series of meetings held at the Defense Ministry over the weekend to formulate a plan to reopen roads.
In the early morning in Sidon, dozens of demonstrators obstructed the city's main roads, blocking the north and south entrances with burning tires.
By noon, the Army had forcibly removed the blockade, allowing cars to pass. They arrested, and later released, seven demonstrators who had been blocking the road, the state-run National News Agency reported.
In Nabatieh's Kfar Roummane, protesters opened the town's central roundabout after more than a week of blocking it.
Back in Beirut, dozens of protesters woke up in the open air, having camped out on the "Ring Bridge," which had been blocked since the previous evening with cars and household furniture.
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