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Lebanese Keep Protest Alive in Northern City of Tripoli

Agence France-Presse

   TRIPOLI, LEBANON - Thousandsof Lebanese flocked togetherSaturdayin
   Tripolito keep a protest movement alive in a city dubbed "the bride of
   the revolution."

   Despite its reputation for conservatism, impoverished Tripoli has
   emerged as a festive nerve center of anti-graft demonstrations across
   Lebanon since Oct. 17.
   The movement has lost momentum in Beirut since the government resigned
   this week, but in the Sunni-majority city of Tripoli late Saturday, it
   was still going strong.
   In the main square, protesters waved Lebanese flags and held aloft
   mobile phones as lights, before bellowing out the national anthem in
   unison, an AFP reporter said.

   'Everyone' urged to go

   "Everyone means everyone," one poster read, reiterating a common slogan
   calling for all political leaders from across the sectarian spectrum to
   step down.
   Many people had journeyed from other parts of the country to join in.
   RagheedChehayeb, 38, said he had driven in from the central town of
   Aley.
   "I came to Tripoli to stand by their side because they're the only ones
   continuing the revolution," he said.
   LeilaFadl, 50, said she had traveled from the Shiite town of Nabatiyeh
   south of Beirut to show her support.
   "We feel the demands are the same, the suffering is the same," she
   said.
   More than half of Tripoli residents live at or below the poverty line,
   and 26 percent suffer from extreme poverty, a U.N. study found in 2015.

   Future uncertain
   On Tuesday, embattled Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his cabinet
   would step down.

   But it was still unclear what a new government would look like and
   whether it would meet protesters' demands that it include independent
   experts.
   Roads and banks have reopened after nearly two weeks of nationwide
   paralysis.
   FahmyKarame, 49, called for a "rapid solution to the economic crisis."
   "We're waiting for a government of technocrats," he said.

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