Garbage Pile Protests Lay Bare Lebanon’s Deep Political Division

Demonstrators closed roads and picketed in front of Lebanon’s parliament on Monday to protest the government’s inability to dispose of garbage piling up in Beirut, a crisis exposing the country’s political deadlock.

Four policemen were wounded on Monday trying to disperse protesters in Jiyyeh, south of the capital, who had blocked a major highway to prevent the disposal of trash in the area, the official National News Agency said. Three demonstrators were injured, the Daily Star newspaper reported, citing the mayor of Barja village, Nashaat Hamiyeh. The road was reopened at midday.