Thousands of protesters poured into Beirut's Riad al-Solh Square on Sunday demanding that the country's top politicians resign, hours after Prime Minister Tammam Salam hinted he might step down following violent protests triggered by a monthlong trash crisis.

The demonstrations, the largest in years, railed against the corruption and dysfunction that has brought about Lebanon's current political crisis. The country does not have a functioning cabinet or parliament, and hasn't had a president for more than a year.

Change and Reform bloc MP Michel Aoun congratulated the Lebanese youth of the You Stink campaign who demonstrated “peacefully” on Saturday in Downtown Beirut.

“I congratulate the Lebanese youth who demonstrated peacefully and civilized yesterday, and have proven mature in demanding their rights and pressing livelihood matters,” said Aoun in a statement on Sunday.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said Sunday he was ready to meet with members of a growing movement protesting the country's trash crisis, and admitted that "excessive force" had been used against demonstrators.

Salam’s comments came in a press conference he held against the backdrop of Saturday’s clashes between security forces and activists of the anti-garbage demonstrators in Downtown Beirut.

Several neighborhoods in the southern city of Sidon, including al-Baassiri and al-Njasa neighborhoods, went under prolific sniper early on Sunday despite a cease-fire agreement overnight between the clashing parties.

The overnight clashes, which left 3 dead and 20 wounded, led to the outbreak of fires in homes and damage to properties and cars and had forced many Palestinians to flee to the city of Sidon.

Prime Minister Tammam Salam said on Sunday that he refuses to be part of the “paralysis” governing the country and driving it to a total “collapse,” the Pan Arab al-Hayat daily said.

“The PM’s call for a cabinet convention on Thursday came out of his duty that he should not participate in the complete paralysis controlling the country and leading it to a breakdown,” visitors to Salam quoted him as saying.

An international human rights watchdog has decried police violence against Lebanese demonstrators protesting the government's failure to resolve the country's mounting trash crisis.

Police used forced to disperse a protest of around 100 people in downtown Beirut this week after some of the demonstrators tried to break a security cordon around the government building.

Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblat denounced the “barbaric” behavior that the security forces used in confronting Wednesday's protests of the You Stink campaign, assuring that the demonstrations are “righteous.”

“The protests carried out by some youth in downtown Beirut are legal and righteous, but the barbaric way used to disperse them are strongly rejected and condemned,” said Jumblat via twitter on Friday.

President Barack Obama wrote in a letter to Congress that the U.S. will uphold sanctions targeting Iran's non-nuclear activities, such as its support for Hizbullah.

Obama promised Democratic lawmakers that the U.S. will continue to keep economic pressure on Iran — and keep military options open — if his administration's nuclear deal with Tehran goes through.

A committee tasked with evaluating waste management tenders on Wednesday postponed declaring the winning bids pending further assessment, as anti-trash protesters scuffled with security forces outside the Council for Development and Reconstruction where the meeting was held.

“It is necessary to have more than one evaluation for every region,” said Environment Minister Mohammed al-Mashnouq after the meeting.

Head of the Union of Beirut Port Employees Beshara al-Asmar declared on Tuesday an open strike at the port following the resumption of waste dumping near the premises after they were halted last week.

“We were surprised to see today that the digging operations and waste dumping has resumed. Two bulldozers were brought into the area,” al-Asmar told Voice of Lebanon Radio (93.3).