BreadBros
23rd January 2007, 12:27
Source: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&cl...69537400559B241 (http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=123&art_id=qw1169537400559B241)
By Nadim Ladki
Beirut - 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 escalates a campaign by the Hezbollah-led opposition to dislodge the pro-Western government, install a new unity administration and hold early parliamentary elections.
Protesters in Beirut, north, south and east Lebanon took to the streets at around 6 am (04.00 GMT) and began blocking roads. Smoke from burning tyres billowed over the capital.
Many shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut but it was hard to tell whether this was in support of the strike or because people could not get to work past blazing barricades.
Opposition sources say protests will last for several days. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told his supporters on Monday to be ready for more steps to press opposition demands.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government has shrugged off the demands and is instead preparing for an international aid conference in Paris on Thursday that it hopes will yield billions of dollars for Lebanon's debt-laden economy.
What does everybody think? How will/should this be resolved? Do you support the opposition? Will the US respond somehow?
By Nadim Ladki
Beirut - 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 escalates a campaign by the Hezbollah-led opposition to dislodge the pro-Western government, install a new unity administration and hold early parliamentary elections.
Protesters in Beirut, north, south and east Lebanon took to the streets at around 6 am (04.00 GMT) and began blocking roads. Smoke from burning tyres billowed over the capital.
Many shops, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut but it was hard to tell whether this was in support of the strike or because people could not get to work past blazing barricades.
Opposition sources say protests will last for several days. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told his supporters on Monday to be ready for more steps to press opposition demands.
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government has shrugged off the demands and is instead preparing for an international aid conference in Paris on Thursday that it hopes will yield billions of dollars for Lebanon's debt-laden economy.
What does everybody think? How will/should this be resolved? Do you support the opposition? Will the US respond somehow?