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BEIRUT — The resignation of Lebanon's government under pressure from the street looked set to ease a two-week-old nationwide lockdown but protesters vowed they would keep pushing for deeper change.

President Michel Aoun acknowledged Saad Hariri's resignation as prime minister but asked his government to continue on a caretaker basis until a new Cabinet is formed.

But there was no clear way out of the political crisis that has drawn warnings from Lebanon's foreign partners.

On the ground, security forces reopened several roads that had remained mostly blocked by protesters since a proposed tax on calls via messaging apps sparked a wave of demonstrations on October 17.

The unprecedented mobilisation swelled into a popular drive to remove a political elite which has remained largely unchanged since the end of the civil war three decades ago.

Euphoric protesters experiencing a rare moment of national unity have pilloried politicians of all parties, calling for better public services, an end to rampant corruption and a complete overhaul of sectarian-based politics.

When a sombre Hariri appeared on television Tuesday to announce his resignation, crowds erupted into celebrations across the country but warned that the government's fall was only one of their demands.

“The resignation is not enough to get us off the streets,” said Charbel, a 26-year-old draped in a Lebanese flag, who was still protesting in central Beirut on Wednesday.

“We need to keep up the pressure, but we should not keep the roads closed because now it’s bothering even the people who were supporting the movement,” he said.

Hariri’s resignation came after counterdemonstrators loyal to some of his political rivals attacked the main protest site in the capital’s Martyr’s Square.

They destroyed tents and marquees and the rest of the temporary infrastructure that has turned downtown Beirut into a huge encampment — hosting protests and political meetings by day, concerts and parties by night.

Well-organised protesters however swiftly cleaned up and returned to the site, occupying the main flyover again on Tuesday evening.

Food stands serving sandwiches or corn on the cob were doing brisk business.

Some protesters laid out carpets and sofas, some slept in hammocks hung between traffic signals and others brought goal posts to set up a football pitch across the four-lane highway.

By Wednesday, having won the government’s resignation, protesters were divided over the decision to remove roadblocks, which they see as one of the few sources of leverage for their leaderless and spontaneous movement.

The resignation announced by Hariri came after the failure of days of consultations with his fractious Cabinet to agree on a reshuffle and meet some of the protesters’ demands for a technocratic government.

Early in the protests, Hariri had hinted that resigning was an option but his rivals in the government coalition, including Aoun’s party and its allies from the powerful Shiite movement Hizbollah had warned a political vacuum could lead to chaos.

Hariri’s suggestions were rejected by Aoun, whose son-in-law Gebran Bassil is the outgoing foreign minister and one of the most reviled figures among the protesters.

Forming a government in Lebanon can typically take months, with every sectarian and party leader seeking to protect their own communal interests.

“There is no time for any of the old games,” Heiko Wimmen, Lebanon project director at the International Crisis Group think tank told AFP.

“The pressure of the street and, perhaps even more so, the fear of economic collapse will dictate an accelerated government formation,” he said.

The 49-year-old Hariri, who had already stepped down twice as prime minister in 10 years, could yet return as the head of the next government.

“Hariri throws it all away to better negotiate his return,” wrote the French-language newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour.

One rising name in the Sunni community to which the post is usually reserved is outgoing Interior Minister Raya Al Hassan, who is the first woman to take that job and has received praise for her bloodless handling of the protests.

Lebanon’s economy, crippled by ballooning public debt, has been sliding to the brink of collapse in recent months.

Hariri announced a much-delayed reform package last week in a bid to address some of the protesters’ demands and the requirements for a huge foreign assistance programme to be unlocked.

Some protesters want fresh elections to be organised, a move that would further delay the implementation of those reforms.

GENEVA — Syrian government and opposition negotiators sat face-to-face Wednesday to launch a committee tasked with amending the country's constitution, a meeting hailed by the UN as marking "a new chapter" for the war-torn nation.

The United Nations-brokered constitutional review committee includes 150 delegates — divided equally among the Syrian government, the opposition and civil society.

Hopes remain dim that the group will reach a breakthrough towards a political resolution to Syria's eight-year conflict, which has killed more than 370,000 people.

But UN Syria envoy Geir Pedersen said the meeting amounted to "a historic moment" and "a new chapter for Syria".

"I know that it is not easy for all of you to be here together", Pedersen said, conceding that "the road ahead will not be easy".

Experts have argued that Assad — whose forces have made major gains against the opposition — has little to lose at the talks and will walk away before making any significant compromises.

His lead negotiator Ahmad Kuzbari praised the country's existing charter as "a modern constitution."

"But this does not prevent us from meeting to consider possible amendments, or changes to the current constitution, and putting a new constitution in place, one that... effects positive change," he added.

In opening remarks that also included tough rhetoric against those battling Assad, Kuzbari insisted that Syrian forces would continue fighting regardless of ongoing diplomacy.

“We have been fighting terrorism before the meeting, and we will wage this battle during the meeting and afterwards, until we liberate every inch of our nation’s precious land,” he said.

The head of the opposition delegation, Hadi Albahra, described the meeting as “a first step on a long path to recovery”.

“We all know that 150 people meeting today in this room have diverging opinions,” he said.

“But after eight painful years of suffering in Syria we came here to look for similarities.”

Following Wednesday’s ceremony, meetings between the 150 will take place before a smaller group of 45 delegates will begin work drafting the constitution.

There is no deadline for the process and Pedersen said the aim would be to reach consensus on all issues.

Where that is not possible, changes would only be made with a 75 per cent majority vote in the committee to avoid having any one side dictate the results.

Constitutional review is a central part of the UN’s peace plan for Syria, which was defined by Security Council resolution 2254, adopted in December 2015.

The resolution also calls for UN-supervised elections.

BEIRUT — Lebanon's prime minister on Tuesday announced he was submitting the resignation of his government, bowing to nearly two weeks of unprecedented nationwide protests.

Saad Hariri's express and sombre televised address was met by cheers from crowds of protesters who have remained mobilised since October 17, crippling the country to press their demands.

"It has become necessary for us to make a great shock to fix the crisis. I am going to the Baabda Palace to give my resignation," said Hariri, who had already resigned twice in the past from that same job.

He said his decision comes "in response to the will of many Lebanese who took to the streets to demand change" in protests he called "historic".

Hariri's move came after days of apparently unfruitful efforts to reshuffle posts among his uneasy coalition partners and also as tension mounted on the ground between protesters and security forces bent on reopening the country for business.

A nationwide cross-sectarian protest movement has gripped Lebanon for almost two weeks, calling for an overhaul of a political class viewed as incompetent and corrupt.

Banks and schools have remained closed and the normally congested main arteries in Beirut blocked by protesters, despite the government's adoption of an emergency economic rescue plan last week.

The unprecedented protest movement had been relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by party loyalists to stage counter-demonstrations.

But on Tuesday, dozens of rioters descended on a rally site near the government headquarters, where they attacked protesters, torched tents, and tore down banners calling for "revolution", said an AFP correspondent in the area.

They dismantled podiums and broke speakers as streams of people flooded out in panic.

An hour earlier, the same counter-demonstrators had gathered on a nearby road where they attacked peaceful protesters who were blocking the key artery, another AFP reporter said.

The counter-protesters chanted slogans hailing the leaders of two Shiite movements — Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and Amal head Nabih Berri — as they pushed roadblocks aside and provoked protesters.

Police intervened to contain the violence, sparking a series of scattered scuffles.

Demonstrators caught in the attack tried to jump over the rails of the highway while others ducked behind concrete blocks.

For nearly two weeks — the main protest square had been home to impromptu concerts in the evenings, with hundreds dancing deep into the night to music blasting from speakers.

After Tuesday’s attack, streets were strewn with litter, as people tried to salvage what they could from the torched remains of their tents.

“There are political orders to attack. This was not spontaneous,” said one demonstrator alluding to Amal and Hizbollah, neither of which were spared by protesters, including from their own base.

Lebanon’s political leaders have appeared shell-shocked, trying simultaneously to express sympathy for the largely peaceful protest movement, while warning of turmoil in the case of a power vacuum.

Nasrallah had warned of chaos if the government resigned but had also urged his supporters to refrain from staging counter-demonstrations.

Protesters have insisted on a complete overhaul of the country’s sectarian-based governance and celebrated the emergence of a national civic identity.

Tens of thousands of people joined hands across the country on Sunday, from Tripoli in the north, to Tyre in the south, to symbolise a newfound national unity.

Hariri last week announced a package of economic reforms which aims to revive an economy that has been on the brink of collapse for months.

While his coalition partners have supported the move, protesters have accused the political elite of desperately attempting to save their jobs and have stuck to their demands for deep, systemic change.

NAJAF, Iraq — Populist Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr joined thousands of demonstrators in the holy city of Najaf on Tuesday amid a spiralling political crisis sparked by deadly anti-government protests.

At least 240 people have died and 8,000 been wounded since demonstrations broke out on October 1 over unemployment and corruption, before evolving into calls for the government to quit.

Sadr, an ex-militiaman with a cult-like following in swathes of Iraq, has spearheaded demands for Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mahdi's resignation and early parliamentary elections.

On Tuesday, he was spotted by an AFP correspondent amid thousands of anti-government demonstrators in his native Najaf, a holy city in southern Iraq.

He was seen in a white car in the city just after airport sources told AFP he had landed from neighbouring Iran.

Sadr himself is one of the current government's two main sponsors, after his Saeroon bloc won the largest share of parliament's 329 seats in a vote last year.

But he tweeted in support of an initial six-day wave of protests that rocked the country early this month and resumed last week.

Demonstrators have so far been unimpressed by premier Abdel Mahdi’s laundry list of reforms, which includes hiring drives and more social welfare.

Instead, they have increasingly pushed for early elections, a new government and a reworked constitution.

After failing to meet several times, parliament on Monday agreed to explore early polls and constitutional amendments, summoning Abdel Mahdi for questioning.

They reiterated their demand Tuesday, calling on him to appear at parliament headquarters “immediately”.

In footage aired on local media, MPs from the largest bloc of Saeroon — tied to Sadr — could be heard chanting, “At once! At once!”

The parliament is deeply divided, with Sadr backing protests while second-largest bloc Fateh — the political branch of the Hashed Al Shaabi paramilitary force — backs the government.

Several Hashed offices have been torched in recent days in southern Iraq in what observers say is likely an escalation of the rivalry between Sadr and the Hashed.

Abdel Mahdi has urged Sadr to agree with Fateh chief Hadi Al Ameri on a way forward.

“If the goal of elections is to change the government, then there is a shorter way: for you to agree with Mr Ameri to form a new government,” the premier wrote in a public letter to the cleric on Tuesday.

“Once this agreement is reached, the prime minister can submit his resignation and the new government can receive its orders in days, if not hours,” said Abdel Mahdi.

He dismissed the idea of bringing forward polls, saying, “But the fate of early elections would be unknown. Will its results be definitive?”

‘Stay home? No way!’ 

The chaotic protest movement is unprecedented in Iraq, both because of its apparently independent nature and the ensuing violence.

The first wave of protests starting October 1 left 157 people dead, mostly protesters in Baghdad, according to a government probe which acknowledged “excessive force” was used.

A second wave starting on Thursday has left at least 83 dead.

Overnight, at least one protester was killed in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, said the Iraqi Human Rights Commission.

The city’s forensics chief told AFP a 24-year-old had been shot in the head, but the governor and security forces said it was “categorically false” anyone had died.

Rallies escalated on Tuesday, with trade unions representing teachers, lawyers and dentists all declaring strikes lasting several days.

In Iraq’s southern cities of Hilla, Diwaniyah, Kut and Nasiriyah, most government offices remained closed on Tuesday for lack of staff.

Students gathered in those cities for their third day of demonstrations, ignoring orders by the higher education minister to return to class.

In the capital, protesters were massing on a key bridge linking their main gathering place in Tahrir Square to the Green Zone, where government offices and foreign embassies are based.

They managed to breach a first barrier set up by security forces, who have been holding back demonstrators there in recent days with volleys of tear gas.

Many had spent the night in tents or abandoned buildings in Tahrir in defiance of a curfew declared by the army.

“Their curfew changed nothing,” 30-year-old protester Duaa said on Tuesday morning.

“Did the government think we would stay at home? No way.”

About 60 per cent of Iraq’s 40-million population is under the age of 25.

But youth unemployment stands at 25 per cent, while one in five people live below the poverty line, despite the vast oil wealth of OPEC’s second-largest crude producer.

“We don’t want this government any more. We want a transitional government and constitutional change,” another female protester said.

“I’m a teacher, I have a salary, I have a house — but the young unemployed people are my brothers and relatives, too.”

BEIRUT — Lebanese demonstrators set up barricades and parked cars across key roads Monday to protest corruption and press their demands for a radical overhaul of their country's sectarian political system.

Defying pleas from Lebanon's top leaders, protesters sought to keep the country on lockdown for a 12th consecutive day by cutting off some of the main thoroughfares, including the main north-south highway.

The protesters — who are demanding better services as well as an end to corruption and sectarian politics — continued to block roads on Monday afternoon, despite rainfall.

Their unprecedented mobilisation — sparked by a proposed tax on voice calls via messaging apps on October 17 — has quickly morphed into a massive grassroots push to drive out a political elite which has remained virtually unchanged in three decades.

Lebanon's political leaders have appeared shell-shocked, trying simultaneously to express sympathy for the protest movement while warning of chaos in the case of a power vacuum.

"If the corrupt ruling class doesn't feel like the country is crippled we will not see any results," said 21-year-old Ali, who was among a group of demonstrators blocking a key road in the capital on Monday morning.

 Couches and footballs 

Central bank chief Riad Salame warned on CNN Lebanon was on the verge of economic collapse unless an "immediate solution" could be found to end the protests.

A poster urging motorists to block roads with their cars started circulating on social media on Sunday night.

By the next day, some major routes were closed off by hundreds of angle-parked vehicles, others by groups of protesters sitting on the road.

Schools and banks have been closed for more than a week.

The Lebanese security forces had been expected to make a new attempt at reopening the roads as the country faced more paralysis.

The army and the country’s top security agencies had agreed at the weekend to a military-led plan to clear roadblocks, but their efforts have been met with resistance from demonstrators.

In the southern city of Sidon, the army scuffled with protesters blocking the city’s northern entrance on Monday morning, injuring three, said an AFP correspondent.

In Beirut, activists converted a main artery in the centre of the city into an open-air living room, furnished with couches and rugs.

They shot footballs across streets which on a regular Monday would have been jammed with motorists streaming in from Beirut’s northern suburbs.

Most residents have backed road closures, and business owners on Sunday night called for a general strike in solidarity, but political officials and flustered motorists have in recent days accused demonstrators of robbing people of their livelihoods.

“We are not closing all the roads. There are always side roads people can use,” said Yusra, a 16-year-old in central Beirut.

“We don’t want to stand against the people but we also don’t want to go back to the way things were before the revolution,” she told AFP.

So far, the unprecedented protest movement has been relatively incident-free, despite tensions with the armed forces and attempts by party loyalists to stage counterdemonstrations.

In one of the most serious incidents, the army opened fire on Friday to confront a group of protesters blocking a road in the northern city of Tripoli, wounding at least six people.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters joined hands nationwide to form a 170-kilometre human chain stretching from Tripoli to Tyre in the south.

The event drew Lebanese of all ages and backgrounds, many of them draped in the national cedar flag.

Organisers said the event symbolised a national civic identity that has emerged since the start of the protests on October 17.

The rallies have been remarkable for their territorial reach and the absence of political or sectarian banners, in a country often defined by its divisions.

The leaderless protest movement is driven mostly by a young generation of men and women born after the 1975-1990 civil war.

Lebanon’s reviled political elite has defended a belated package of economic reforms and appeared willing to reshuffle the government, but protesters have stayed on the streets.

More than a quarter of Lebanon’s population lives in poverty, according to the World Bank.