Page 4 - MIN SJA 10 SEPT 2015
P. 4
WORLD NEWS 9
Thursday 10 September
Lebanese protests resume as leaders debate trash crisis
ZEINA KARAM beyond just the trash in since the civil war ended in nyism among the country’s two weeks. Among other
the streets to target an en- 1990. Lebanon has a con- politicians. things, they are demand-
BASSEM MROUE tire political class that has fessional power-sharing sys- Thousands of people have ing new parliament elec-
dominated the country tem that often leads to in- taken part in huge dem- tions, to be followed by
Associated Press and undermined its growth cessant bickering and cro- onstrations over the past presidential elections.
The country has been with-
BEIRUT (AP) — Thousands out a president for over
a year, and members of
of Lebanese demonstra- parliament have illegally
extended their term twice
tors braved a sandstorm amid disputes over an
election law.
and oppressive humid- After meeting for three
and a half hours, leaders
ity to take to Beirut streets of Lebanon’s various sec-
tarian blocs issued a brief
on Wednesday and rally statement, saying the talks
would resume in a week.
against government dys- “They did not even bother
to meet tomorrow or the
function, as politicians met day after, they postponed
it for a week and came out
for the first round of talks without any decision,” said
Assaad Thebian, an orga-
aimed at averting a po- nizer with the main group
behind the protests, which
litical crisis that stemmed calls itself “You Stink.”
“They showed that they
from a trash crisis that has are indifferent and should
not be in leadership posi-
engulfed the country’s tions,” he told The Associ-
ated Press.q
capital.
Activists near the parlia-
ment building, which was
closed off by security forc-
es, shouted “thieves!” and
hurled eggs as politicians’
convoys drove by.
Tensions rose further af-
ter a morning gathering
of lawmakers and senior
politicians ended without
results, while the Cabinet Lebanese anti-government protesters shout slogans during a protest against the on-going trash
crisis and government corruption in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2015. Leba-
convened late into the non’s prime minister says he hopes that political talks between senior politicians will help end
government paralysis that has sparked angry street protests.
night to discuss the dead-
(AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
lock. Outside the govern-
ment building, protesters
chanted: “Revolution, Syria:
revolution against the sys- Al-Qaida, other groups take last army base in Idlib
tem.” Just before midnight,
the government said it
had approved a plan that BASSEM MROUE more critical to the govern- clared the city as the seat receiving support from Er-
Associated Press ment. of its caliphate that spans a dogan’s government,” re-
promises to end the trash BEIRUT (AP) — After a two- A state television report third of both Syria and Iraq. ferring to Turkish President
year siege, al-Qaida’s af- said the army pulled out Al-Qaida’s Syria branch — Recep Tayyip Erdogan who
crisis. “They are feeling the filiate in Syria and other from the Abu Zuhour air known as the Nusra Front is a strong supporter of Syr-
insurgents on Wednesday base and that the troops and a top rival of the Is- ian opposition groups. The
sand shifting under them,” captured the one remain- “evacuated their positions lamic State — and other Syrian government refers to
ing Syrian army air base in and moved to another” lo- Islamic insurgents now con- all groups fighting against
Elias Nassour, a 28-year-old Idlib province, a develop- cation. trol nearly all of Idlib prov- Assad’s forces as “terror-
ment that activists said ef- This makes Idlib the second ince, except for the pre- ists.” The Britain-based Syr-
protester, said of the gov- fectively expelled the last of Syria’s 14 provinces to dominantly Shiite villages ian Observatory for Hu-
of President Bashar Assad’s completely fall out of Syr- of Foua and Kfarya, which man Rights said insurgents,
ernment leaders. “Nothing military from the northwest- ian army control. Earlier this pro-government militiamen including members of the
ern province. year, militant groups cap- hold. Syrian state TV quot- Nusra Front, captured the
will pass so easily anymore. It was the latest in a se- tured the provincial capi- ed an unnamed military of- base under the cover of a
ries of setbacks for Assad tal, also called Idlib, as well ficial as saying that troops sandstorm and forced gov-
They can’t belittle us any- in Syria’s bitter civil war, as other towns and villages. pulled out of the Idlib base ernment forces out of their
now in its fifth year. Syria’s The province of Raqqa fell with weapons, and that last post in Idlib province,
more.” embattled president has to Islamic State extremists none of the equipment which borders Turkey. The
acknowledged the losses, last year, after IS militants and warplanes left behind Nusra Front is part of a co-
The trash crisis has ignit- saying the army has had to captured its provincial “were usable.” alition of insurgent groups
relinquish some areas in the capital, also called Raqqa, The military official said the called Jaish al-Fateh, or
ed the largest Lebanese north to be able to better in January 2014. The Islamic attack on the base was car- Army of Conquest, which
defend core areas seen as State group has since de- ried out by “terrorist groups has captured most of Idlib.
protests in years and has
emerged as a festering
symbol of the govern-
ment’s paralysis and failure
to provide basic services.
It was sparked by popular
anger over the heaps of
trash accumulating in Bei-
rut’s streets after authorities
closed the capital’s main
landfill on July 17 and failed
to provide an alternative.
The protests quickly moved
