Middle East protests: live updates
Governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Lebanon are all facing protests on a significant day in the Middle East
12.30pm:
The Guardian's Martin Chulov has provided more on Hariri's appeal for calm in Lebanon:
Saad Hariri, whose supporters are rioting partly in his name today has urged people to demonstrate without violence. "We will defend Lebanon's sovereignty together," he said in a live TV address. "You are responsible for Lebanon's safety despite your anger. I understand your feelings of anger, but we should keep to democracy to express our opinions."
Beirut seems to be largely in lockdown today. But that seems mostly precautionary. So far there has been a lot of civil disobedience, burning tites and throwing rocks, but not the outright violence of May 2008. Things can very quickly change here though. Even on a good day, Beirut is only 48 hours away from anarchy.
Najib Miqati, the man almost certain to be Lebanon's PM, after Hariri was unable to muster the numbers in consultations yesterday, has claimed victory on al-Arabiya, saying he will dedicate his new cabinet to the memory of Saad's slain father, Rafiq Hariri.
Hariri senior's legacy is what this flashpoint is all about. The Hezbollah opposition ousted Hariri jnr because he would not renounce support for a tribunal investigating who killed his dad almost six years ago. Hezbollah members are likely to be implicated and they want a candidate as PM who will marginalise the tribunal.
12.28pm:
After Hariri's call for calm (12.04pm), Reuters is now reporting that Lebanon president Michel Suleiman has just appointed Hezbollah's choice, Najib Mikati, to succeed Hariri as prime minister. Mikati reportedly said he will begin discussions on Thursday to form a new government and urged all Lebanese factions to overcome their differences. How that news will affect the mood of protesters remains to be seen.
12.09pm:
A picture of the protests in Cairo has been posted b! y Lauren Bohn, who says that clashes have begun and she has just been knocked over.
12.04pm:
In Lebanon, former - and interim - prime minister Hariri has called for calm and told his supporters to go back home and raise the Lebanon flag.
My call for you is a national call. You are angry but you are responsible people. I understand your feelings. This anger should not lead us to what disagrees with our values ... our belief that democracy is our refuge.
11.55am:
Protesters in Cairo have broken through police ranks and are heading towards the Nile, Jack Shenker, who is covering the Egypt protests for the Guardian, reports. Some have been beaten by police but the demonstrators remain defiant chanting at the police, most of whom are from very poor neighbourhoods, to join them. Many have sat down in the face of the amassed police ranks. Shenker told me that what started as a protest with three specific aims is now seen by many as an opportunity to bring down the Mubarak regime.
You can listen to Jack Shenker's report from Cairo below.
11.23am:
The Guardian's Ghaith Abdul-Ahad is in Beirut in the neighbourhood of Cola, which straddles a Sunni neighbourhood loyal to the former - and currently interim - prime minister Hariri and a Shia neighbourhood. He says demonstrations have been low key and the army has not intervened heavy-handedly but a significant incident could cause the situation to explode.
It is mainly street gangs. Hundreds of Sunni kids are burning tyres, trash containers, throwing rocks. There are lots of army officers, 10 Humvees, separating Sunnis from Shia neighbourhoods. The main line of the protesters is that this is an Iranian Hezbollah conspiracy. Some are carrying guns but most are throwing rocks, carrying sticks, moving about on small mopeds. The streets are calm but it's Beirut and it only takes one Sunni to be beaten up or one Shia to be k! illed fo r that to change.
10.59am:
The Guardian's Peter Beaumont writes that tension is rising in Tunisia where it appears the interim government is "untenable":
A sense of crisis is building again in Tunisia where the interim government, as it's now constituted, looks increasingly untenable. The issue is the presence of key allies of the autocratic former President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali who hold key posts in the cabinet including the defence and interior ministries. These are the people along with interim Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi who the protesters still taking to the streets want out.
Overnight the already strong sense of a government that is untenable has become ever more evident. There's been reports of negotiations going on late into the night last night that would see either an imminent major cabinet reshuffle or the appointment of a "council of wise man' - including unions, the bar council and representatives from the long banned Ennahda Islamist movement - to over see the government until elections. Perhaps both.
The sense of the alarm growing in Tunisia's old guard was supplied yesterday by army chief Rachid Ammar who addressed the demonstrators who have been camped out on the prime minister's doorstep at The Casbah in Tunis. While he said the army "would protect the revolution" he also warned that a "power vacuum could lead to dictatorship".
And you can read that two ways. Either he's saying that the army won't let the old regime loyalists undermine the Jasmine revolution, or that the army won't allow a situation where Tunisia is without a government. In any case it is confirmation of how important a role the army has played behind the scenes in Tunisia's recent upheaval. And is playing
still.
10.50am:
There have been shots fired (in the air) and tyre-burning in Lebanon the Associated Press reports:
Thousands of Sunnis waved flags and burned tires Tuesday in a "day of rage" to protest gains by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which is on! the bri nk of controlling Lebanon's next government. In the northern city of Tripoli, protesters torched a truck belonging to Al-Jazeera, but the station said none of its crew was injured.
The Iranian-backed Hezbollah considered a terrorist organisation by Washington secured support in parliament Monday to name its own candidate, former premier Najib Mikati, for the next prime minister. The militant group's Western-backed opponents maintain that having an Iranian proxy in control of Lebanon's government would be disastrous and lead to international isolation.
Hezbollah's Sunni rivals held protests in different parts of Lebanon, including Tripoli, the capital Beirut and the main highway linking the capital with the southern port city of Sidon.
A senior military official said several armed men fired in the air in west Beirut, but the army intervened and dispersed them. For the most part the gatherings were localized and not hugely disruptive.
The largest gathering was in Tripoli, where thousands of people converged at a major square calling on Mikati not to accept the post and shouting slogans backing caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri. Mikati urged calm Tuesday and said he wanted to represent all of Lebanon. "This is a democratic process," he told reporters. "I want to rescue my country."
10.43am:
It is a big day in the Middle East, where at least three governments are facing sizeable street protests.
In Egypt, thousands of demonstrators are taking to the streets for a "day of revolution", demanding political reform, including a new term limit on the presidency that would bring to an end the 30-year rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Today is traditionally a national holiday to celebrate the achievements of the police force but an unlikely alliance of youth activists, political Islamists, industrial workers and hardcore football fans are coming together to demand change.
In Tunisia, there i! s unfini shed business with respect to the Jasmine revolution which forced President Zine Al-Abidine Ben Ali to flee into exile. Protesters are still fighting for the removal of his key allies who hold key posts in the cabinet including the defence and interior ministries. Many demonstrators have been camped in The Casbah in Tunis on the doorstep of interim Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi who they want out. The army chief has promised he "would protect the revolution" but also warned that a "power vacuum could lead to dictatorship".
In Lebanon, thousands of Sunnis are taking part in a "day of rage" to show their opposition to the prospect of a new government under the control of Hezbollah. The Shia group, which caused the government led by Saad Hariri to fall just under two weeks ago by withdrawing its support, has now won backing in parliament for its own candidate, Syrian businessman Najib Miqati, to succeed Hariri as prime minister. Under Lebanon's power-sharing system, the role is supposed to be reserved Sunnis.
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