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General Strike off to a Hot Start
Thousands of Lebanese protesters blocked main roads in Beirut and around the country with rubble and burning tyres on Tuesday at the start of a general strike called by the opposition to try to topple the government.
The strike is the latest move by the opposition, which includes Hezbollah, to escalate its campaign to dislodge the pro-Western government, install a new unity administration and hold early elections.
Protesters in Beirut, north, south and east Lebanon took to the streets at around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) and began blocking off roads with rubble and burning tyres. Plumes of smoke rose above Beirut forming a black cloud hanging over the city.
Most main roads inside Beirut and into the city were blocked, as were was the highways linking the capital to north and south Lebanon as well as to the Syrian capital Damascus.
The road to Beirut's international airport, Lebanon's only such civilian facility, was also blocked. Most shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut but it was difficult to tell whether they were shut because people supported the strike or because they could not reach they could not get to work.
The strike is the latest move by the opposition, which includes Hezbollah, to escalate its campaign to dislodge the pro-Western government, install a new unity administration and hold early elections.
Protesters in Beirut, north, south and east Lebanon took to the streets at around 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) and began blocking off roads with rubble and burning tyres. Plumes of smoke rose above Beirut forming a black cloud hanging over the city.
Most main roads inside Beirut and into the city were blocked, as were was the highways linking the capital to north and south Lebanon as well as to the Syrian capital Damascus.
The road to Beirut's international airport, Lebanon's only such civilian facility, was also blocked. Most shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut but it was difficult to tell whether they were shut because people supported the strike or because they could not reach they could not get to work.
Comments on this journal
news.independent.co.uk
"Thus north of Beirut, Aoun's Christian forces tried to block the roads and were set on by Samir Geagea's thugs. In Tripoli, supporters of Hariri's son Saad were fighting Alawite supporters of Syria. In Hazmiyeh, it was Shias versus Christians and in Corniche al-Mazraa, it was Shias against Sunnis. No, as Nasrallah would be the first to say, this is not necessarily a civil war ? and it has to be said that the Hizbollah's tens of thousands of fighters were by far the most disciplined men on the streets of Beirut..."
news.independent.co.uk
"Siniora himself started warning of the dangers of civil war and the United States - as Hizbollah must have hoped - came out in support of the government, claiming, quite falsely, that the violence came from the Hizbollah-led opposition."
Burning tyres is a terrorist act! Come on Doctor, are you serious?
What should we call the slogan of ?I am the authority? that the ascetic ?Doctor? had put, one day, on posters carrying his photos, the same slogan the current government is raising without Siniora blinking an eye even for a split of second?
Better still we should put all issues aside and ask an obvious question:
What would drive a young man from the Northern Matn, for an example, to stay awake day and night to burn a tyre in the street?
This is what Mr. Samir Geagea said during an early morning phone conversation speaking to the LBCI.
It is the Doctor?s right, of course, to criticize burning the tyres and the road blockades, but it is really weird for him to use the word ?terrorism? to describe what the opposition?s youth were doing; especially that this description was voiced by a man who is supposed to know exactly what does terrorism mean.
If burning tyres is a terrorist act, what should we call what had happened at the checkpoints of Barbara and Natoura Al-Zahra?
What should we call ignoring thousands of families who have been waiting for two or three decades to know the fate of those who disappeared at those checkpoints? What should we call that? ?Super Terrorism?? ?Extra Terrorism?? Or ?Extra Large Terrorism??
The Lebanese national opposition issued a statement Tuesday at the end of the massive one-day strike held all over Lebanon calling on the unconstitutional ruling bloc to get the clear message of the strike.
The statement stressed that if the unconstitutional government doesn't bow to the will of the Lebanese people, the opposition will take more decisive and escalatory steps (against it) soon.
The head of Al-Marada movement, the former Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh said, "A new chance has been granted to the March 14th movement. If they ignore the nation's will, we will take on a much more decisive action. Today's strike with all its vitality and greatness will be nothing compared to that."
Franjieh added that the opposition will make decisions on the nature of the next move during the next few days.
General Michel Aoun, head of the "Change and Reform Bloc," said in a special interview with Tomorrow's Voice Radio, "The strike called for by the opposition has succeeded," and continued, "Some are talking about a Christian ? Christian sedition. Our reply to them-- whoever causes sedition is responsible. Today some demonstrators have been hit from behind and that is treachery, not confrontation." "The army has prevented many troubles that could have happened," he added.
He asked that "Those who have information about the military assaulting demonstrators should present the names to the concerned authorities," adding, "those who criticize the armed forces don't have a credible history with the army." He held the Interior Minister and the government responsible, and asked the Judgeship to reveal the names of those involved "and prosecute them." In response to an inquiry about what steps the opposition would take next, he said "The opposition leaders are discussing the next steps, which will be announced this afternoon."
Protestors from the Lebanese National Opposition paralyzed the country with a nationwide strike on Tuesday, blocking roads, setting tires ablaze in the latest escalation aimed at ousting the Western-backed unconstitutional government of Fouad Saniora. Police said at least 58 people mostly from the opposition bloc were wounded, some hit by live rounds, in clashes in Beirut and other areas.
Troops and police were out in force for the one-day general strike which was denounced by the government as a "coup attempt" by the opposition movement. Thick clouds of smoke billowed over the capital and other cities as demonstrators blocked roads by burning tires and old cars. They blocked main roads, cutting access to Beirut airport, in an escalation of the protest that has crippled Saniora and his ruling bloc for weeks.
The strike was the first major escalation by the opposition since its supporters began a sit-in outside government offices in Beirut last December 1.
A follower of the FPM was injured when an angry driver "ran her over intentionally" during protests in Beirut's eastern suburbs of Baabda, the source said.
The nationwide general strike marks the first major escalation by the opposition since protesters began a protest around government offices in Beirut on December 1.
The opposition is seeking to the Siniora government submit to the formation of a national unity government or leave.
Siniora warned that government forces would confront any attempts to disturb civil peace, after opposition figures vowed to shut main roads and paralyze the country.
Ahmad Raya, Hezbollah spokesman in the eastern Bekaa Valley, said main roads would be blocked for one day on Tuesday.
"The strike will be accompanied by gatherings," he said on Monday.
Dozens were wounded by gunshots Tuesday as protesters blocked roads across Lebanon at the start of a one-day strike against the Western-backed government.
Amid boosted security across the country, opposition protesters blocked national highways in various regions and streets inside the capital as well as a main road leading to Beirut international airport.
Thick columns of smoke engulfed the capital and other cities, as demonstrators blocked roads by burning tires and old cars, and spreading sand and rubble over roadways.
Army troops and security forces watched the demonstrators from a distance, mostly without interfering.
In some instances, the troops moved in after the departure of the demonstrators to reopen the roads.
A source at the Free Patriotic Movement of Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said five people were wounded by gunshots in separate incidents during protest actions in northern Lebanon.
Several Arab and international airlines suspended flights to Beirut on Tuesday after opposition protesters blocked off the road to Lebanon's only civilian airport, sources at the facility said.
The airport had remained operational despite the protest but few workers had showed up and passengers were unable to get there or to leave. The national flag carrier Middle East Airlines (MEA) made no immediate announcement on whether it would suspend operations or not.