Mashnouq Issues Ultimatum after Truckers Block Roads across Lebanon

Truck owners blocked several key roads across Lebanon on Wednesday to protest Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq's decision to shut down sand mining and stone crushing sites.

The National News Agency said truckers blocked the Ouzai-Kuwaiti Embassy road as well as the Safra-Jounieh, Dahr al-Baydar, and Zahle-Tarshish roads, causing severe traffic jams on the capital's entrances and in the Bekaa and Zahle.

The Khalde-Beirut highway was also blocked by trucks, bringing traffic to a standstill in the area.

Trucks also blocked the coastal highway at Jadra's intersection on the Beirut-South highway.

The road-blocking protest in Khalde involved a clash between truckers and citizens that escalated into gunfire and the smashing of a car's windows.

“I demand the reopening of roads across Lebanon within an hour or else I will obliged to use force,” Mashnouq warned on Twitter.

The minister later called for a Wednesday afternoon emergency meeting for the Central Security Council at the Interior Ministry.

“We reopened some roads and I pledge to reopen all roads as of tomorrow and we will take all measures necessary to prevent their closure. This issue will not be repeated and we will not bow to any blackmail,” Mashnouq said later in remarks to al-Jadeed television.

“I hope this issue will be discussed without politicization and the law will be implemented as of tomorrow,” he added.

Mashnouq also called on President Michel Aoun to “convene a cabinet session to discuss the issues that are of importance to citizens, away from the political conflict over the electoral law.”