BEIRUT, 3 December 2006 — Thousands of supporters of Lebanon’s Hezbollah-led opposition paralyzed parts of central Beirut yesterday on the second day of a campaign to topple the US-backed government.
Scores of tents sprung up on Friday night as protesters occupied parking lots, squares and streets leading to the government’s headquarters bringing Beirut’s normally bustling commercial district to a standstill.
Restaurants and cafes, usually packed with people on weekends, were shut. Many banks also stayed closed.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters rallied Friday to demand the resignation of the Western-backed government, but Prime Minister Fouad Siniora insisted his government would not be toppled through demonstrations.
“This is a government elected by the people of Lebanon and a government which has the constitutional authority that election gives it,” British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told reporters after meeting Siniora in Beirut.
“I came here in part to show solidarity with the government in the face of difficulties you have been enduring,” Beckett told journalists. She praised the government for having shown “courage and steadfastness” in face of those difficulties.
Beckett, on her first visit to Lebanon after taking up her post in May, also met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a Hezbollah ally whose Shiite Amal Party is participating in the protests.
Hezbollah wants to topple what it calls a US government in Lebanon. The anti-Syrian politicians who dominate the Cabinet say the opposition is attempting a coup.
“Going out on the streets will not yield a result and we won’t reach a solution except if we sit behind... the negotiating table,” Siniora told reporters.
The demonstrators imposed a blockade on the government offices on Friday, but later eased it after contacts between opposition leaders and Arab diplomats, a senior opposition source said. “The government received our message,” he said.
Scores of soldiers have cordoned off the government offices with barbed wire and metal barriers.
Although the dispute is political, many Lebanese fear the situation could spark sectarian violence.
Tension between Sunnis and Shiites is high, in addition to bad feeling between Christians who support leaders allied to the rival camps.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told journalists after receiving Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at Sharm El-Sheikh that he was concerned Lebanon’s neighbors could be drawn into the conflict between Lebanese political forces.
“I’m afraid that if the protests continue, and take a sectarian hue, supporters of various sects from outside Lebanon will get in… and Lebanon will turn into a battlefield,” Mubarak said.
“If Iran supports Hezbollah, other countries might support Siniora’s camp and that will lead to the dangers of which I’m warning,” he added.
Lavrov expressed concern that current tensions could lead to a civil war. “It is necessary to attain the principal goal: to prevent a civil war erupting in Lebanon. To this end, we are maintaining regular dialogue with both the Lebanese government and the neighboring countries, including Syria,” Lavrov said at a press conference.
“It is crucial to be guided by the Lebanese people’s interests and not to allow opportunistic gambling on the situation that has taken shape there,” Lavrov said.
Mubarak said he sent a letter to Berri urging him to open dialogue with the government. “I asked Berri to be flexible and to solve the crisis without protests which will make the situation more difficult,” Mubarak added.
Many supporters of Hezbollah and its allies — the Amal Movement and Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement — said they would stay put until Siniora’s government resigned. “We’re staying here until the government falls, even if it takes one month or two months,” said Mohamed Hussein, 25, from Baalbek. The indefinite sit-in was festive with protesters dancing to drumbeats or smoking water pipes.
Hezbollah supporters set up water tanks and portable latrines and distributed sandwiches, tea and coffee to those camped out. Young men sprawled lazily on mats in and outside their white tents under a bright, warm sun. Some read newspapers, others smoked water pipes. Dozens of white-capped Hezbollah workers swept the streets, littered with leftover food and drink from the night before.
“Yesterday’s demonstration was just the beginning. There are a lot of other surprises on the way,” said Ali Ammar, an 18-year-old who had just woken up. “This government lost the trust of the people a long time ago, and we will not stop until it goes,” the information technology student added.
Outside a nearby tent, men were performing their prayers on the pavement.
“If Siniora had one ounce of feeling, he would resign,” said Aya Mughniyeh, a 20-year-old Hezbollah supporter dressed in black from head to toe.
Hezbollah has been at loggerheads with Siniora’s government over what it says was its failure to back the group during the 34-day summer war with Israel.
Six opposition ministers quit the Cabinet last month after talks collapsed on giving them a greater say in government. The Cabinet was further weakened by the assassination on Nov. 21 of anti-Syrian Minister Pierre Gemayel.
French presidential candidate Segolene Royal, visiting the Middle East, yesterday condemned comments by a Hezbollah legislator who compared Israel’s former occupation of south Lebanon to the Nazi occupation of France.
The Socialist former family minister is touring the Middle East to show voters back home that she can represent France in the international arena. Her trip began Thursday in Lebanon, and it continues through the weekend with visits to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.
A meeting with Lebanese lawmakers on Friday posed several potential pitfalls for Royal, whose comments and reactions were being carefully scrutinized back home. Hezbollah legislator Ali Ammar took the microphone and compared Israel’s 1982-2000 occupation of south Lebanon to the occupation of France by the Nazis during World War II.
“If Iran supports Hezbollah, other countries might support Siniora’s camp and that will lead to the dangers of which I’m warning,” he added.
Lavrov expressed concern that current tensions could lead to a civil war. “It is necessary to attain the principal goal: to prevent a civil war erupting in Lebanon. To this end, we are maintaining regular dialogue with both the Lebanese government and the neighboring countries, including Syria,” Lavrov said at a press conference.
“It is crucial to be guided by the Lebanese people’s interests and not to allow opportunistic gambling on the situation that has taken shape there,” Lavrov said.
Mubarak said he sent a letter to Berri urging him to open dialogue with the government. “I asked Berri to be flexible and to solve the crisis without protests which will make the situation more difficult,” Mubarak added. Many supporters of Hezbollah and its allies — the Amal Movement and Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement — said they would stay put until Siniora’s government resigned. “We’re staying here until the government falls, even if it takes one month or two months,” said Mohamed Hussein, 25, from Baalbek. The indefinite sit-in was festive with protesters dancing to drumbeats or smoking water pipes.
Hezbollah supporters set up water tanks and portable latrines and distributed sandwiches, tea and coffee to those camped out. Young men sprawled lazily on mats in and outside their white tents under a bright, warm sun. Some read newspapers, others smoked water pipes. Dozens of white-capped Hezbollah workers swept the streets, littered with leftover food and drink from the night before.
“Yesterday’s demonstration was just the beginning. There are a lot of other surprises on the way,” said Ali Ammar, an 18-year-old who had just woken up. “This government lost the trust of the people a long time ago, and we will not stop until it goes,” the information technology student added.
Outside a nearby tent, men were performing their prayers on the pavement.
“If Siniora had one ounce of feeling, he would resign,” said Aya Mughniyeh, a 20-year-old Hezbollah supporter dressed in black from head to toe.
Hezbollah has been at loggerheads with Siniora’s government over what it says was its failure to back the group during the 34-day summer war with Israel.
Six opposition ministers quit the Cabinet last month after talks collapsed on giving them a greater say in government. The Cabinet was further weakened by the assassination on Nov. 21 of anti-Syrian Minister Pierre Gemayel.
