Beirut 10 Dec (ANA) - There have been violent clashes near the US embassy in Lebanon, in the latest protest against President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to force back flag-waving protesters close to the embassy complex north of the capital, Beirut.

Overnight the Arab League condemned the US decision. It said the US could not now be relied upon as a broker of Middle East peace. The protesters threw stones and set fires in the street close to the embassy in the Awkar district. The security forces had barricaded the main road leading to the large complex. Local media reported that some protesters had tried to break through the entrance to the compound, climbing barbed wire. The demonstrators, many wearing black and white scarves, chanted slogans denouncing Mr Trump. Lebanon Communist Party leader, Hanna Gharib, told the protesters the US was "the enemy of Palestine". One group set an effigy of the US president alight.

Lebanon is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees, including those who fled Israel after it was founded, and their descendants.(ANA)

FA/ANA/10 December 2017-----