LEBANON: Lebanon opposition pursues protest campaign

Hundreds of Lebanese protesters gathered outside the Energy and Water Ministry on Wednesday (January 10) as part of a Hezbollah-led campaign to topple the government and block its economic reform plans. Soldiers and police cordoned off the ministry in a Christian area of Beirut as protesters arrived in mini-buses. A similar protest had taken place at a Finance Ministry tax office in the city on Tuesday (January 9). The demonstrations, so far thinly attended compared to the vast gatherings organised by the Hezbollah-led opposition in December, were called by the main labour union confederation but also received backing from the opposition as they press ahead with their campaign to try and topple the government. "People died and no one felt for us. We came here to express our feelings and our opinions that the VAT should be cancelled and the economic situation should be improved," said one protester. Opposition protesters have camped outside Siniora's offices in central Beirut since December 1 to try to force him to cede veto power to the opposition in a unity government or call for early elections. Siniora, who has Western and Saudi backing, has resisted those demands, instead announcing an economic reform package to be presented at an international donor conference in Paris. The Beirut government hopes the January 25 Paris conference, which U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to attend, will bring billions of dollars of aid to an economy reeling from Hezbollah's July-August war with Israel. The reforms, which aim to boost growth and ease Lebanon's $41 billion public debt, include raising value-added tax and privatising the mobile telecom sector -- both rejected by the union confederation as damaging workers' rights. The opposition, led by Shi'ite Hezbollah, has pledged to organise daily protests near government buildings and facilities until Siniora gives way.

ITN Source | January 11, 2007

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