Arrests, Injuries as Police Fire Tear Gas, Water Cannons at Martyrs Square Protesters/Lebanon protesters rally again in Beirut/Beirut protest turns violent, officials stall talks

 Arrests, Injuries as Police Fire Tear Gas, Water Cannons at Martyrs Square Protesters
Naharnet/October 08/15/Several protesters were arrested and many others were injured Thursday as security forces fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse civil society demonstrators who tried to enter into central Beirut’s al-Nejmeh Square where the parliament is located. The Red Cross announced transferring 35 people to hospitals after they suffered suffocation injuries due to tear gas inhalation. Protest movement lawyer Mazen Hoteit said At least 25 protesters were arrested. TV networks identified two of them as Pierre Hashash and Waref Suleiman. Meanwhile, the Internal Security Forces said several of its members were injured after protesters “hurled rocks and solid objects” at them. It later said one of its officers was critically injured in the confrontations. Protest organizers meanwhile stressed that demonstrators will not leave the street before the release of all detainees, as the You Stink campaign demanded “an emergency cabinet session to resolve the garbage crisis” and held Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq responsible for the “security escalation.” Demonstrators had started gathering at Martyrs Square at 6:00 pm for a central march aimed at reaching the adjacent al-Nejmeh Square.“Protesters have decided to try entering al-Nejmeh Square from all entrances,” said protest organizer Asaad Zebian after scuffles erupted with security forces. A statement recited by another protest organizer at the demo demanded “the sacking of the environment minister.”“Remove the garbage that has been accumulating outside our homes,” the statement added, referring to the unprecedented garbage crisis that erupted after the July 17 closure of the Naameh landfill. “They continued their procrastination until the arrival of rain,” the statement said. “Release the funds of municipalities, scrap Sukleen’s contracts and start activating the waste sorting plants,” the protest movement demanded.
It also voiced its support for residents who live near the suggested sites for the establishment of new garbage landfills and expressed its solidarity with the Campaign for the Closure of the Naameh landfill. The protest movement also demanded “immediate parliamentary elections that guarantee the proper representation of the Lebanese people without any discrimination.” A plan devised by Agriculture Minister Akram Shehayyeb and a team of experts calls for reopening the Naameh landfill, which was closed in mid-July, for seven days to dump the garbage that accumulated in random sites in Beirut and Mount Lebanon. It also envisions converting two existing dumps, in the northern Akkar area of Srar and the eastern border area of al-Masnaa, into “sanitary landfills” capable of receiving trash for more than a year. After he announced his plan earlier this month, the civil society and local residents of Akkar, Naameh, Majdal Anjar, and Bourj Hammoud protested against the step, citing perceived environmental and health hazards. Experts have urged the government to devise a comprehensive waste management solution that would include more recycling and composting to reduce the amount of trash going into landfills.
Environmentalists fear the crisis could soon degenerate to the point where garbage as well as sewage will simply overflow into the sea from riverbeds as winter rains return. The health ministry has warned that garbage scattered by seasonal winds could also block Lebanon’s drainage system.
The trash crisis has sparked angry protests that initially focused on waste management but grew to encompass frustrations with water and electricity shortages and Lebanon’s chronically divided political class. Campaigns like “You Stink” brought thousands of people into the streets in unprecedented non-partisan and non-sectarian demonstrations against the entire political class.

Lebanon protesters rally again in Beirut
Now Lebanon/October 08/15
BEIRUT – Peaceful demonstrations yet again turned chaotic in Downtown Beirut Thursday evening as security forces fired tear gas canisters and water cannons after protesters partially dismantled a security barrier set up near the An-Nahar building to prevent passage to Nejmeh Square. Though the atmosphere at the start of the 6pm demonstration was largely peaceful and jovial, with riot police grinning as activists wrestled with barbed wire coils along the barrier, within two hours security forces were firing tear gas and water jets indiscriminately into the crowd, striking demonstrators, Red Cross aid workers, and journalists – including NOW’s correspondent – alike. Activists say at least four demonstrators have been arrested, and NOW saw a number of injured protesters, including the leading #YouStink movement figure Imad Bazzi, being rushed away in ambulances.
At least 1,000 protesters had gathered at the invitation of #YouStink and allied civil activist groups in the capital’s Martyrs Square, the site of numerous protests since the mid-summer, as the beleaguered government continues to struggle to address the worsening waste crisis amid the political crisis gripping the country.  On September 16, dozens of activists were beaten and arrested outside the An-Nahar building during a rally set to coincide with a national dialogue session, the last #YouStink protest to descend into violence.  Since then, #YouStink and other civil activist groups have held a number of marches and other street actions to keep pressure on Lebanon’s political leaders, who they accuse of corruption and failed governance.  #YouStink has demanded Interior Minister Nohad Machnouk’s resign the security forces heavy handed treatment of protests while also calling on Environment Minister Nohad Machnouk to step down for the government’s mishandling of the waste crisis in the country.
Political crisis deepens
Thursday’s protest was set to coincide with a national dialogue session scheduled to be held in the Parliament in Downtown Beirut’s Nejmeh Square, however the meeting was cancelled due to growing political differences.
The leaders of Lebanon’s political parties—except the Lebanese Forces—had gathered for crunch dialogue sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, but were unable to reach an agreement on electing a new president or finding a mechanism to get Lebanon’s paralyzed cabinet to meet effectively again. Free Patriotic Movement leader MP Michel Aoun—who Nasrallah supports as a presidential candidate—has been at the center of the political deadlock, refusing to take part in most cabinet sessions until top ranking army officers—including his own son-in-law General Chamel Roukoz—are promoted. Negotiations to reach a deal over the promotions have so far reached a dead end, while Aoun’s Christian party plans to hold a mass rally outside the Presidential Palace in Baabda on October 11. Reports have emerged that a deal to promote Roukoz—whose mandatory retirement is only a week away—have collapsed, raising fears that the political situation in the country will worsen. In comments published Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that “there is no [possibility] for a solution in the country because everyone is waiting on the regional situation to finalize their decisions, despite the fact that they could make a decision and refrain from relying on the outside [world].”The cabinet last met on September 9 to agree on a waste management plan after trash built up on the streets of Beirut and surrounding areas of Mount Lebanon following the closure of the Naameh landfill on July 17. Protesters last held a mass-rally in Downtown Beirut on September 25, while Lebanon’s government has yet to enact its own trash plan

Beirut protest turns violent, officials stall talks
By Reuters | Beirut/Thursday, 8 October 2015/Lebanese security forces fired tear gas and water canon to break up an anti-government protest in Beirut on Thursday, and the country’s fractious leaders postponed talks aimed at resolving a political crisis that is feeding public discontent. Anger at Lebanon’s government has fuelled repeated protests in recent months. Discontent with widely perceived corruption and incompetence came to a head in July when the government failed to agree a solution to a trash disposal crisis and piles of garbage were left to fester in the streets.Protesters threw projectiles including rocks at a line of riot police blocking the way to the Lebanese parliament in Beirut’s commercial district. Live TV footage showed at least one injured riot policeman on the ground. Some three dozen people were taken to hospital suffering from suffocation as a result of tear gas, medics said. Six policemen were also wounded, a security official said. The Lebanese government grouping rival factions has struggled to take even basic decisions since it was formed last year. Lebanon has also been without a president for more than a year in the absence of a deal on who should take the post. The crisis is linked to wider regional turmoil, including the war in neighbouring Syria which has driven well over one million refugees into Lebanon. Lebanon’s opposing political blocs are backed by rival states Saudi Arabia and Iran, which also back the warring sides in Syria. Lebanon’s parliament speaker cancelled the last day of this week’s session aimed at discussing ways out of the political crisis after politicians made no progress on issues including high-level security appointments, the National News Agency said. The three-day “national dialogue” called by Nabih Berri started on Tuesday and was aimed at finding solutions to the stalemate. The talks were set to run into Thursday but Berri postponed the next session until Oct. 26. Saudi Arabia backs the Sunni-led Future Movement of former prime minister Saad al-Hariri. Iran backs the Shi’ite party Hezbollah, a powerful armed group, and its allies. The anti-government rallies has been organised independently of the main sectarian parties in a direct challenge to the political system they control.