Hezbollah Weighs In On Lebanon Rubbish Row

What began as a protest over mounds of uncollected rubbish on Beirut's streets has deepened, laying bare existing tensions within Lebanon.

For the past month rubbish has been building up, with thousands of people taking to the streets in protests organised by youth movement 'You Stink'.

Shia group Hezbollah has now thrown its support behind the anti-government protests, raising fears it is trying to use the crisis for its own gain.

The 'You Stink' group says it wants to highlight politicians who get big cuts from waste management contracts in a system that encourages arguing and greed.

As protests turned violent at the weekend, the government built a concrete wall outside its main building.

But - within just a few hours - officials found themselves removing anti-government graffiti.

Hassan Qatayesh, who suffered an injured jaw when he was hit by rocks, said the government was "immoral" and "depriving" the people.

"They raised the wall to protect themselves from the people, thinking that this wall will prevent our voices from reaching them.

"But our voices are louder than walls, tear gas and rubber bullets."

Hezbollah said the rubbish crisis showed the "endemic and accumulated corruption of the past two decades" with policies serving "personal and political interests at the expense of citizens."

It said holding peaceful protests was a legitimate right.

An emergency meeting was held on Tuesday to try to find a solution, but Hezbollah and its Christian allies stormed out after four hours, saying there was too much political "theatre".

During the talks, ministers rejected the bidders chosen to manage the city's waste collection, saying they were expensive and raising questions over the bidding process.

The Cabinet has ordered the process to begin again, meaning no end in sight for the rubbish problem.

Lebanon already has a number of other issues to deal with.

Once stricken by civil war, it is now also struggling to look after hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in nearby Syria.

Hezbollah regards Lebanon's prime minister as an ally of Saudi Arabia, reflecting the larger regional divide between the Shias and Sunnis - a split which has long paralysed the government.

To make matters worse, the country's politicians have been unable to choose a president for more than a year.

The post is kept for a Christian in the sectarian power-sharing system, which sees the prime minister's post kept for a Sunni and the parliament speaker being a Shia.

Parliament has extended its term twice without elections and has done very little because some politicians say a president must be elected first.