Ibrahim Mneimneh welcomes removal of SSNP barriers in Raouche

BEIRUT — Ibrahim Mneimneh, MP for Beirut and architect and urban planning expert, welcomed on Monday the removal of street barriers that belong to the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP) in front of one of its centers in Raouche, Beirut.

Earlier on Monday, local television channel Al Jadeed reported that a force comprised of members from the Lebanese Army, the Intelligence services and the Beirut Municipality is supervising the removal of the barriers from in front of the center. Contacted by L'Orient Today, a security source did not confirm the report.

"The streets of Beirut welcomed with great relief the step of removing the barriers ... While we thank all the parties involved in this step, we call, as stated in the question I recently posed to the government, for the completion of the removal of party barriers from all neighborhoods, especially on Hamra Street, and the restoration and organization of public space, so that it serves the citizens exclusively," the MP wrote on X.

The SSNP, a party allied with Hezbollah and the former Assad regime in Syria, also has a strong presence in the Beirut neighborhood of Hamra.

Last Tuesday, Mneimneh and MP Melhem Khalaf submitted a question to the government and the ministers of interior and defense regarding the "encroachment on public property and roads and the placement of barriers in Beirut, given that this constitutes a violation of citizens’ freedom of movement and an infringement on the sovereignty of the state."

It remains unclear if this move also includes other parties or only targets property belonging to the SSNP.