LEBANON: Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon camp out for second day of protest

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora urged all Lebanese citizens to agree peacefully among each other on Saturday (December 2) while talking to journalists from the prime ministry surrounded by opposition protesters demanding the resignation of the government. Protesters said they would stay until the government resigns. "We will stay here one month, two months even. We will stay here as much as it takes. The government does not represent the people and if Siniora had national awareness he would have resigned," protester Majed Abou Dargham said. Supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition are still camped out in central Beirut on the second day of protests to demand the resignation of the U.S.-backed government. Protesters pitched tents near central Beirut's Martyrs' Square and on streets leading to the government's headquarters, where hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters rallied on Friday (December 1) to demand the government quit. Siniora said violence wouldn't solve any problems "I have strong belief in the Lebanese that definitely they have tried all attempts to solve problems in the past through violent ways, through non peaceful means and it proved to be a failure. So we cannot resort to violent ways. It doesn't solve the problem, in Lebanon it does not solve the problem," he said. 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. Scores of soldiers have cordoned off the government offices with barbed wire and metal barriers. Support for Siniora has come from prominent Lebanese politicians and figures, like former Lebanese president and father of slain industry minister Amin Gemayel, who visiting him at the prime ministry on Saturday. According to Gemayel, Siniora supporters are visiting him to support and congratulate him on his stance. "We are here to verify to the prime minister that we support him and to congratulate him on his stances which are all nationalist, moderate, and he that he keeps on telling the Lebanese have no choice but dialogue," Gemayel said. Protesters continued demonstrating in central Beirut on Saturday night, waving flags and chanting in the darkness.

ITN Source | December 3, 2006

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