BEIRUT, Jan. 16 -- Lebanese caretaker Interior Minister Raya El Hassan on Thursday denied ordering security forces to use force against the protesters and journalists.
"Security forces resorted to the use of force because they were exhausted after staying in the streets for the past three months," she told the journalists staging a sit-in near the Interior Ministry to protest the attacks against media workers covering the protests.
At the same time, Hassan said that army members and security forces had been humiliated and beaten during the protests, which have continued since last October.
Some photographers and reporters were attacked by security forces on Tuesday and Wednesday while covering the protests in Beirut.