Protesters Rally at French Embassy to Denounce 'French Interference'
Protesters led by the leftist Youth Movement for Change rallied Tuesday evening outside the French embassy in Beirut to denounce what they called French “interference” in Lebanese affairs, hours after a top French envoy arrived in Beirut.
The envoy, Christophe Farnaud, is scheduled to meet with top Lebanese officials over the ongoing political and economic crisis in the country.
Earlier on Tuesday, several prominent civil society groups such as Beirut Madinati and the Legal Agenda said they had declined invitations to hold meetings with Farnaud, who has apparently sought to explore the stances of the anti-corruption protest movement.
Lebanon's financial troubles have worsened since economically driven mass protests erupted nationwide last month. The ruling class is also still bickering over the formation of a new government after Saad Hariri bowed to street pressure and tendered his government's resignation on October 29.
The protesters outside the French embassy also demanded the release of Lebanese leftist militant Georges Abdallah from French jails.
Abdallah has been jailed since 1984 over the separate assassinations in France of the assistant U.S. military attaché and an Israeli diplomat and the attempted assassination of an American consul. The three attacks occurred during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
In 1999, Abdallah completed the minimum portion of his life sentence, but several requests for parole were denied. In 2003, a French court granted him parole but the U.S. Department of State objected to the decision. Dominique Perben, the French Minister of Justice at the time, made an appeal against the release.
over 4 years
yet I see some of the protesters who the tv reporters talk to on the streets, and I do not recall one single one of them in al ares talk about free enterprise capitalism, free markets, competition in market place. They are protesting a corrupt government/institutions, yet at th same time they still want government to run everything and provide everything.
I can understand the PSP supporters who are anti privatization as that's their core ideology, State Control, just like the Commies.
On tv the other day this two young guys where demanding the banks gets punished as they are in cahoots with the ruling class. One of them even went there and said the rich who have money in the banks that that money should be taxed at 20%. The tv host pushed back and asked them what if the money was earned legally through business or have a product the market demands and that's how they made their money. They still insisted they should be taxed.
over 4 years
they are the same people who wanted george abdullah released. he was convicted of murder and for some reason, still an icon with these 'protesters'.
over 4 years
France should force Ebola to disarm and assist with transformation. Stop helping these thieves!
The leftist philosophy has proved utter failure with the demise of soviet union and china, and their transformation into the most capitalist countries in the world.
Welfare state is what people desire, ie cashing without working. And that only works in very few rich democracies such as scandinavia and canada. For the rest, the only way foreard is trickle down economics,or rightist capitalism.