The past two months there have been protests against the Lebanese government, especially against Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. It’s important to know what is going on in Lebanon as it is a key country to U.S. foreign policy and an important country in the region. Especially because it’s the base of Hezbollah, went through a brutal civil war and occupation during the 1980s and especially due to the recent war with Israel. These are some of the news articles I’ve read from around the world.Middle East:
Daily Star (Lebanon)
Jan. 24, 2007
One Day Was More Than Enough
By Rym Ghazal
BEIRUT: The Hizbullah-led opposition's general strike against the government on Tuesday led to a nationwide protest that paralyzed the country and left its capital engulfed in barricades of blazing tires and bloodied by clashes that left at least three dead and over 130 wounded.
Late Tuesday, the opposition announced that it would lift its strike. Prior to the announcement, however, the man whom the crippling protest was aimed at unseating - Prime Minister Fouad Siniora - issued a brief, firm address to the nation in which he stood his ground and announced he would remain in office, even as the country appeared to be drawing to the verge of another civil war...(Read More)
Daily Star (Lebanon)Jan. 26, 2007
Rival Mobs Plunge Beirut Into Anarchy
By Iman Azzi and Rym Ghazal
BEIRUT: Clashes erupted between government loyalists and opposition supporters in Lebanon on Thursday, escalating swiftly and leaving at least three dead and 158 others wounded by the time a rare curfew was imposed on the city at 8:30 p.m. Scenes across the capital were reminiscent of the country's brutal 1975-1990 Civil War; burning cars, reports of snipers on rooftops and a curfew for the first time since 1996.
Thirteen Lebanese Army soldiers, including four officers, were also wounded while trying to defuse the violence that spilled over from a political argument on a university campus in Tariq al-Jdideh...(Read More)
Al Jazeera (Qatar)Jan. 25, 2007
Curfew Follows Fatal Beirut Clashes
By Al Jazeera and Agencies
A curfew has been declared in Beirut after four students were reported killed as rival groups of pro and anti-government students fought a pitched battle at a university, leaving at least 35 others wounded.
The curfew, from 8.30pm (1830 GMT) until dawn on Friday, was declared by the Lebanese army following hours of violence in the capital...(Read More)
Middle East Times (Egypt)
Jan. 25, 2007
Donors Pledge $7.6 Bn In Aid to War-Scarred Lebanon
By Agencies France-Presse
PARIS -- International donors Thursday pledged more than $7.6 billion in aid for Lebanon to bolster the Western-backed government in Beirut and help the country recover from war.
Saudi Arabia, the United States, France, and multilateral lenders led the drive to raise the massive aid package at a donors' conference for Lebanon, which was partly ruined during the July-August war between Hezbollah and Israel...(Read More)
South Asia:
News International (Pakistan)
Jan. 26, 2007
Respect Curfew, Says Nasrallah
BEIRUT: Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah urged his followers on Thursday to respect the orders of the Lebanese army which declared an overnight curfew after violent street protests.
“We are using a Fatwa in the interests of the country and civil peace... everyone should evacuate the streets, remain calm and leave the stage for the Lebanese army and security forces,” he said...(Read More)
Southern Africa:
Mail & Guardian (South Africa)
Jan. 25, 2007
Beirut Clashes Leave Students Dead
At least two students were shot dead and 35 others wounded in Beirut street fighting on Thursday between students loyal to the government and opposition supporters, a security source said.
Opposition-run television station NBN put the death tally from the fighting, which spilled over from the Arab University campus, at four, including two students. But the security source could not confirm this...(Read More)
Europe:
U.K. Guardian
Jan. 26, 2007
Four Dead, 35 Wounded in Beirut Violence
By Clancy Chassay
A three-hour battle between opposition and government supporters at a Beirut university yesterday left at least four students dead and 35 wounded, in a sign of Lebanon's deepening political crisis.
The army, which struggled to keep the two sides apart by firing into the air, declared a curfew last night in an attempt to end further skirmishes. Opposition and government leaders urged supporters to stay off the streets...(Read More)
Der Spiegel (Germany)Jan. 23, 2007
General Strike in Lebanon: Violence in Lebanon as Opposition Aims to Topple Government
Previously-peaceful protests in Lebanon aimed at toppling the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora took a violent turn Tuesday at the start of a general strike in the country.
Thousands of opposition supporters blocked main roads in the capital Beirut and around the country with rubble and burning tires early Tuesday morning as a general strike aimed at toppling the government began. In addition, at least 14 people have sustained gunshot wounds in central and northern Lebanon in addition to a number of fistfights and other violence, according to police reports. Several have been injured in scuffles in Beirut, particularly in Christian areas...(Read More)
Le Monde (France)
Jan. 25, 2007
In Beirut, the Curfew Was Raised Without Incident
An hour after the lifting the curfew in Beirut on Friday, calm reigned in the capital where confrontations between partisans of the opposition and the government claimed the lives of three and wounded more that 152. Circulation was fluid in the middle of the Lebanese capital with some trade being opened for the day. In the district of Zokak Al-Blat, only the presence of dismantled roadblocks of refuse, as armored tanks of the army rolled by the crossroads, recalled the violent clashes of the day before. Grocers and bakeries raised their iron curtains as the district still slept, all of the schools of Beirut will remain closed until Monday…(Read More)
North America:
New York Times Jan. 25, 2007 Beirut University Dispute Escalates Into Rioting, Killing 4 By Nada Bakri and Hassan M. FattahBeirut - Violence erupted in Beirut on Thursday for the second time in three days, as an altercation in a university cafeteria escalated into rioting and gunfire.
The army declared a rare night curfew throughout the city amid fears that Lebanon’s two-month political crisis had entered a violent phase...(Read More)
Chicago Tribune
Jan. 25, 2007
Lull in Deadly Beirut Battles
By Megan K. Stack
BEIRUT -- By the time morning commuters headed off to work Wednesday, the fires had been snuffed out. The roadblocks had melted away. The rampaging youths who were burning cars and choking off the nation's roads seemed to have evaporated.
As quickly as they mobilized a vast network of demonstrators to lay siege to much of the country, Hezbollah and its anti-government allies pulled Lebanon back from a day of sectarian tensions and street fights by calling off a general strike...(Read More)
Image From:
New York Times
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