Page 10 - AT

A10 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 24 OcTOber 2019
Lebanese troops struggle to open roads closed by protesters

By BASSEM MROUE to clash. Some protesters
HASSAN AMMAR were seen giving soldiers
Associated Press red roses, telling them their
BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanese suffering is identical as they
troops moved in to open are both victims of corrup-
major roads in Beirut and tion. Some soldiers were
other cities Wednesday, overcome by emotions
scuffling in some places and at least one broke
with anti-government pro- down in tears.
testers who had blocked The Lebanese army is one
the streets for the past of few state institutions that
week, grinding the country enjoy wide support and
to a halt. respect among the public
The army vowed to pro- as it is seen as a unifying
tect the protesters, but said force in the deeply-divided
roads have to be opened country.
so that people can get on Beirut's northern suburb of
with business. Zouk Mosbeh witnessed
The scuffles came as the scuffles between protesters
anti-government rallies and troops who managed
received major support to briefly open the main
from the country's Christian highway to the capital be-
leaders who described the fore it was blocked again.
weeklong protests as "a his- Anti-government protesters scuffle with Lebanese army soldiers during a protest in the town of Jal In nearby Jal el-Dib area,
toric and exceptional pop- el-Dib north of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2019. troops were also able to
ular uprising" against cor- Associated Press open part of the highway
ruption and mismanage- to the brink of disaster. Schools, universities, banks tal and other cities, facing briefly before large num-
ment, and appealed to the The nationwide demonstra- and government institu- off with protesters carrying bers of people, including
government to meet the tions that began last week tions have been closed for red, white and green Leba- legislator Sami Gemayel,
demands of the people. grew larger on Monday, the past week, as protest- nese flags. In some places, marched from nearby ar-
Hundreds of thousands of after Prime Minister Saad ers blocked main roads protesters refused to move eas and closed it again.
people have flooded pub- Hariri announced a pack- and intersections. The clo- away, leading to the scuf- The Lebanese army issued
lic squares across the coun- age of economic reforms sures have cut off the capi- fles. Thousands of soldiers a statement later saying it
try in the largest protests the government hopes tal from the Bekaa region, deployed in Beirut and its is committed to protecting
in over 15 years — a rare would help revive the strug- leading to some shortages suburbs, and in the south- the protests as long as they
show of unity among Leba- gling economy. The pro- in foodstuffs and fruits and ern cities of Sidon and Tyre are not closing roads. "We
non's often-divided public testers have denounced vegetables. to clear the roads. They are opening the roads for
in their revolt against sta- Hariri's package as empty On Wednesday morn- were able to clear some your sake so that people
tus-quo leaders who have promises and are demand- ing, troops moved in large and failed in other places. get their needed medi-
ruled for three decades ing the resignation of his numbers to open several The two sides were keen cine, food and gasoline,"
and brought the economy Cabinet. major roads in the capi- to avoid friction and not the army said.q

In Egypt, 8 dead after chaotic day of heavy rains, flooding

By SAMY MAGDY closed across the province the Nile Delta provinces of
Associated Press Thursday because of con- Sharqia, Gharbia and Kafr
CAIRO (AP) — Heavy rains tinued bad weather there. el-Sheikh, according to the
that pummeled the capital The mayhem raised ques- Interior Ministry. Three of the
of Cairo and other parts of tions about Cairo's ability to victims, including two chil-
the country, causing mas- deal with such heavy rains dren, were electrocuted.
sive traffic jams and flood- as the city's infrastructure The other two victims died
ing many key roads, left at and sewage and drain- falling from the rooftops of
least eight people dead, age systems have suffered their flooded homes.
including four children, au- from years of poor mainte- Local authorities in north-
thorities said Wednesday. nance. ern Sinai also reported
People captured images of People took to social me- two deaths. Moataz Ta-
Tuesday's downpours and dia to criticize the govern- her, head of the el-Hassa-
flooding on their mobile ment's lack of prepared- na municipality, said in a
phones, posting images ness. Cairo, a city of some statement that a 47-year-
on social media, including 20 million people, has been old farmer and his 13-year-
scenes of cars submerged In this Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019 photo, vehicles stop in a traffic jam left for decades in neglect old daughter died early
by flood waters. due to flood waters caused by heavy rains in Cairo, Egypt. and decay, particularly its Wednesday in the flooding.
In one dramatic video, a Associated Press overcrowded neighbor- In the Mediterranean city
man on a bulldozer pulls steps away from the presi- and companies saw only hoods. of Alexandria, the heavy
the lifeless body of a little dential palace in Cairo's skeletal staff show up at Hashtags like "#Egypt is rain caused a three-sto-
girl out of the water in a district of Heliopolis, wad- work. Authorities said later sinking" were trending on ry building to collapse
flooded area in northern ing into a flooded street to that schools would reopen social media, attracting Wednesday, killing a
Sharqia Province as shouts unclog a sewage drain. Thursday. Adel el-Ghad- many videos and pictures 7-year-old child and injur-
and screams are heard in Authorities closed schools ban, governor of the Medi- of the most affected areas ing her 19-year-old brother,
the background. Another and universities in the great- terranean province of Port in Cairo and elsewhere. according to the city's civil
video shows a policeman, er Cairo area Wednesday Said, said schools would be Five deaths occurred in protection authority.q