State begins removing political signs in Beirut, Tripoli
Bookmark thisMunicipality workers began removing political signage and party banners in Beirut and Tripoli Thursday, in line with an agreement reached during dialogue sessions between the Future Movement and Hezbollah to defuse sectarian tensions.
Beirut Governor Ziad Chebib and political figures watched as the campaign for clearing the city from all political signs and posters of politicians kicked off in the various districts of the capital.
Chebib pointed out that rival partisans had already started taking down the banners two days ago and that the authorities will continue the work until the last banner is removed.
In north Lebanon’s main city of Tripoli, a hotspot of sectarian tensions, a similar cleanup campaign was launched Thursday.
North Lebanon Governor Ramzi Nohra instructed security forces to remove all political banners from the city, starting in the district of Bab al-Tabbaneh, which was the scene of several rounds of sectarian fighting over the past few years, security sources said.
In the meantime, Future MP Ammar Houri commented on the campaign, saying “it was just a partial move, not the main aim of the dialogue.”
“We hope it is one step in the right direction, since political banners contribute to fuelling tensions, and we had agreed with Hezbollah to defuse tensions as part of the dialogue,” Houri said in radio comments.
The lawmaker underlined that his party had called for making Beirut free of illegitimate weapons as well, as an initial move which could be expanded to all parts of Lebanon without exception, in reference to Hezbollah’s military arsenal.