LEBANON: Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora meets his security cabinet to discuss ways to deal with the opposition's strike.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora met his security cabinet in Beirut on Monday (January 22) to discuss ways to deal with the opposition's strike which is due to take some escalating measures which they hope will topple the current government. Speaking after the meeting, Siniora criticised the opposition's action saying the security forces will ensure that calm and peace is restored. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Monday (January 22) dismissed an opposition challenge to his government and pushed ahead with plans to attend a vital economic aid conference in Paris this week. The opposition has called a general strike for Tuesday (January 23), stepping up its campaign to oust Siniora, who has defied its demands for veto power in cabinet and early parliamentary polls. Opposition figures have indicated that mass protests would accompany the strike, raising fears of violence in a country still recovering from its 1975-1990 civil war and the July-August war between Israel and the Shi'ite Muslim Lebanese Hezbollah guerrilla group. Siniora said security forces would not allow protesters to block off key roads or facilities and urged people to go to work as usual. Siniora said security forces would not allow protesters to block off key roads or facilities and urged people to go to work as usual. "We call on all Lebanese not to take part in the campaign of fear and threats. We ask them firstly to have faith in God and also restore their trust in the nation, to have confidence in the Lebanese army and the security forces that will exert every effort to maintain freedoms and security." The opposition, which includes Hezbollah and Amal factions and Christian leader Michel Aoun, has been camped outside Siniora's offices in central Beirut since December 1 to press its demands. The Prime Minister accused the opposition of making conditions worse for the country's citizens. "What is happening shows that the opposition is not working to improve the lives of the people. It is as if they are working to make them even poorer instead of working towards solidifying the stability. It is as i they are campaigning for the opposite." Opposition sources say Tuesday would mark only the start of the escalation against the cabinet and said protests could last for days and possibly shut down Beirut's airport and port. Siniora, who has Western and Saudi backing, has resisted the opposition demands, instead announcing an economic reform package to be presented at the Paris conference on Thursday (January 25). The Beirut government hopes the conference, which U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will attend, will bring billions of dollars of aid to an economy saddled with debt and reeling from Hezbollah's war with Israel.

ITN Source | January 22, 2007

Tags:. .civil. .instead. .usual. .muslim. .freedoms