Suleiman for Strict Security Measures as Southern Suburbs” Residents Burn Tires

Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman reiterated that the military will fight any attempt to impair national security after residents in the Hizbullah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut burned rubber tires to protest the severe power rationing.

 

Suleiman also vowed to take “comprehensive security and military measures” during the Holiday season.

The protestors, shouting anti-government slogans, blocked the Msharafiyeh, Kafazat and Mreijeh roads with burning tires on Monday evening.

 

Police and army troops quickly stepped in, dispersed the protestors and reopened the roads, while firefighters put out the flames.

 

A terse police report said the move was apparently “spontaneous” and not organized by any political faction.

 

The electricity authority issued a statement earlier in the day notifying citizens of a series of failures that have led to separating power stations from the main network, enforcing a general power failure.

 

The statement, however, pledged that repair works are underway and power distribution would return to normal soon.

 

Picture: Demonstrators burn tires and block traffic as they protest against electricity rationing in the southern suburbs of Beirut. (AFP/MUSSA AL-HUSSEINI)