LEBANON-CRISIS/POLITICS Anti-government protesters march in central Beirut, call for Saturday rally
Record ID:
142766
LEBANON-CRISIS/POLITICS Anti-government protesters march in central Beirut, call for Saturday rally
- Title: LEBANON-CRISIS/POLITICS Anti-government protesters march in central Beirut, call for Saturday rally
- Date: 24th August 2015
- Summary: BEIRUT, LEBANON (AUGUST 24, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** BARBED WIRE IN THE STREET IN FRONT OF THE GRAND SERAIL GOVERNMENT HEADQUARTERS BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN BEIRUT VARIOUS OF WORKERS BUILDING CONCRETE WALL NEAR THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING LEBANESE FLAG SET UP ON THE NEWLY ERECTED WALL MORE OF WORKERS PUTTING UP WALL OF CONCRETE BARRIERS VARIOUS OF MAN WRITING ON ONE OF THE WALL'S CONCRETE BARRIERS MORE OF WORKERS BUILDING UP THE WALL WITH CONCRETE BARRIERS VARIOUS OF LEBANESE FLAG SEEN IN FRONT OF THE WALL FROM CONCRETE BARRIERS BUILT IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING SIGN ON WALL READING (Arabic): 'IN ISRAEL THERE IS THE SEPARATION WALL, IN LEBANON THERE IS THE WALL OF OPPRESSION AND SHAME' PROTESTERS SITTING ALONG THE WALL OF CONCRETE BARRIERS ERECTED IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING BEHIND WALL LEBANESE FLAG ON TOP THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL ACTIVISTS AND SPOKESMEN OF 'YOU STINK' CAMPAIGN DURING A PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ACTIVIST FROM 'YOU STINK' CAMPAIGN SAYING: "We promise you from this position of responsibility that is growing every day to do all that we can to enhance our organizational capabilities in coordination with all activists in the society in order to ensure the continuation of the movement and its escalation, asking all Lebanese to stay on alert and protest on Saturday at 6pm (1500gmt) in a place to be announced later to bring down the tenders and achieve all what has been asked for." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS MARCHING IN BEIRUT STREETS TOWARDS CENTRAL BEIRUT SEVERAL HUNDRED LEBANESE PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL BEIRUT IN FRONT OF CONCRETE WALL AROUND THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING ++NIGHT SHOTS++ VARIOUS OF LEBANESE FLAG IN FRONT OF PROTESTERS SITTING ON WALL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) LEBANESE PROTESTER, JAMIL OUEINEH, SAYING: "It's been two days that I have been coming because of the corruption in the government, corruption in services and the way the security forces deal with us. I am coming to support the guys here, and I demand we bring down the sectarian regime." PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL BEIRUT VARIOUS OF LEBANESE FLAG ON CONCRETE WALL IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING PROTESTER SPRAYING SLOGANS ON WALL WRITINGS ON CONCRETE WALL SIGN ON WALL READING (Arabic): 'THANK YOU FOR THIS SPACE AND THIS WALL, IT HELPS US IN EXPRESSING OUR OPINION' PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL BEIRUT CHANTING (Arabic): 'THE PEOPLE WANT TO BRING DOWN THE REGIME' MORE OF THE PROTESTERS IN CENTRAL BEIRUT MORE OF THE PROTEST IN CENTRAL BEIRUT IN FRONT OF THE GOVERNMENT GRAND SERAIL BUILDING
- Embargoed: 8th September 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Lebanon
- Country: Lebanon
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA8XCKSFR1FQHJIBIPA1X0M2DMT
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Lebanese protest organizers called on Monday (August 24) for more demonstrations against the government on Saturday (August 29) after two days of rallies descended into violence and forced the government to erect blast walls around it headquarters.
Workers on Monday erected concrete blast walls around the government offices in central Beirut. Some streets remained littered with glass and charred debris from the night before.
The 'You Stink' campaign has mobilized against the government's failure to solve a garbage disposal crisis, bringing thousands of people onto the streets in protests that have threatened the survival of the cabinet.
Organizers at a news conference on Monday did not say where the weekend protest would take place but called on Lebanese at home and abroad to come to join in - potentially increasing the risk of more unrest after clashes on Sunday.
"We promise you from this position of responsibility that is growing every day to do all what we can to enhance our organizational capabilities in coordination with all activists in the society in order to ensure the continuation of the movement and its escalation, asking all Lebanese to stay on alert and protest on Saturday at 6pm in a place to be announced later to bring down the tenders and achieve all what has been asked for," one of 'You Stink' campaign activists told the news conference.
Protesters blame political feuding and corruption for the failure to resolve the waste crisis that has in recent weeks left piles of uncollected trash festering in the summer sun.
The campaign has mobilized independently of the big sectarian parties that dominate Lebanese politics in a sign of how long-simmering frustration at Lebanon's political deadlock has boiled over into open anger.
The fractured cabinet and parliament are paralyzed, the political class has been unable to agree on a new president for more than a year while the Syrian civil war next door has whipped up sectarian tension.
"It's been two days that I have been coming because of the corruption in the government, corruption in services and the way the security forces deal with us. I am coming to support the guys here, and I demand we bring down the sectarian regime," said one demonstrator Jamil Oueineh.
Organizers have blamed the violence on troublemakers who they believe are connected to rival sectarian parties.
'Lebanon on brink of chaos,' the headline of the Daily Star newspaper said. 'Infiltrators hijack the You Stink revolution,' said the An-Nahar newspaper. The As-Safir newspaper called it 'the Aug. 22 Intifada,' or uprising.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam on Sunday (August 23) threatened to resign, saying the bigger problem in the country was its 'political garbage,' in an attack on the politicians who are bickering over top security posts.
The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon on Monday urged "maximum restraint" by all sides in the protests. Security forces fired water cannon and tear gas against demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and sticks at riot police on Sunday.
Protesters had planned to rally on Monday but postponed it following the violence and instead held a smaller march of hundreds of people, escorted by security services as they headed towards the seat of government.
They chanted anti-government slogans like 'The people want to bring down the regime' while many took the wall as a space to write up slogans. Some signs on the wall read 'In Israel there is the separation wall, in Lebanon there is the wall of oppression and shame' and 'Thank you for this space and this wall, it helps us in expressing our opinion'.
The interior minister said 99 members of the security forces and 61 civilians had been injured so far.
Environment Minister Mohamad Al Machnouk earlier on Monday named companies that had won waste management tenders in Lebanon's regions, but it did little to appease the protesters.
The national unity government led by Salam has been mostly hamstrung since it came to office last year, paralyzed by rivalries among politicians that have been exacerbated by crises in the wider region.
Conflict in the Middle East, including the war in neighboring Syria, has strained Lebanon's sectarian system of government to breaking point. The presidency is reserved for a Christian and has been left vacant for a year and parliamentary elections have been postponed.
The Salam cabinet, formed last year with the blessing of regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, has avoided a complete vacuum in the executive arm. It groups rival Lebanese parties including the Future movement led by Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, Shi'ite Hezbollah, and Christians.
But it has struggled to take even basic decisions, including agreeing a plan for Beirut's waste when the city's garbage dump was shut last month.
Tension in cabinet has escalated over appointments in the security agencies and army.
In the absence of any broad deal on who should replace outgoing security chiefs, the terms of incumbents including army commander General Jean Kahwaji were extended in recent weeks.
That has infuriated one of the main Christian parties, the Free Patriotic Movement led by Michel Aoun, an ally of the powerful Hezbollah. Aoun is seeking the appointment of his son-in-law, a top army commander, as the next army chief.
The Free Patriotic Movement accuses Salam of usurping presidential powers but it has not quit his cabinet.
Salam's threat to resign has fueled concern of a bigger crisis. He said that if a cabinet meeting scheduled for Thursday was not productive on issues including a tender to decide on a new refuse collection company, 'there would be no necessity for the government after it.'
Should it collapse, his government would stay on in the caretaker capacity. However, his resignation would trigger a constitutional crisis because in Lebanon it is the president who appoints the prime minister. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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