Lebanese Army started on Wednesday to open roads a day after Saad Hariri announced his government’s resignation following nearly two weeks of protests that started peacefully but ended up to groups of bandits blocking roads and preenting the citizens from witnessing normal life.
Al-Manar correspondent said that Lebanese Army troops opened Jal El-Dib area, north of Beirut, as well as the Ring Bridge in the capital, Khalde and Naameh to the south of Beirut.
Our correspondent also reported that the Lebanese Army is readying to clear the blocked routes in the southern city of Sidon, the international road of Zahle, east Lebanon, and in northern towns.
Earlier the army command issued a statement urging protesters to open blocked roads.
The “Army Command requests all demonstrators to initiate the opening of all closed routes to restore life back to normal,” it said in the statement, stressing the protesters’ right to express their opinion and demonstrate but in public square only.
The Army command said that the recommendation comes thirteen days after the start of the protests, the worsening clashes between citizens as a result of cutting vital roads in various areas of Lebanon and after the recent political developments.
Hariri offered his resignation on Tuesday after twelve days of protests that swept across the country. Demonstrators took to streets on October 17 in protests against imposing new taxes, hard livelihood conditions and corruption.
However, the demonstrations which had livelihood demands at first turned out to become suspicious as demonstrators in several protests venues chanted anti-resistance slogans and called to disarm Hezbollah.
At the start of the protests, Hezbollah Secretary General voiced solidarity with demonstrations stressing on need to make reforms in the country. However, his eminence warned the protesters against hijacking their rightful demands by several sides in and outside Lebanon.
Week later (on Friday, October 25), Sayyed Nasrallah called on resistance supporters to leave streets, citing information that the popular demonstrations have been exploited by suspicious local and foreign sides in a bid to target the resistance.
Moreover, the protests turn out to harm citizens with dozens of bandits who belong to anti-resistance political parties cutting off vital roads and hindering all aspects of normal life in the country.
Citizens expressed their annoyance on media, with thousands of people are being stuck in the roads for hours, waiting to pass. Reports said that bandits who were blocking roads in Khalde and Naameh were asking people for money in order to pass and go to their destinations.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
