People carry Lebanese national flags as one of them holds up a trash bag on a broom as they take part in an anti-government protest at Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. Photo: Reuters

Thousands of protesters waving Lebanese flags and chanting anti-government slogans converged on a square in central Beirut yesterday for a rally against political leaders they say are incompetent and corrupt.

Similar protests descended into violence last weekend and Prime Minister Tammam Salam threatened to resign, a move that could tip the state struggling with political deadlock and spillover from Syria into deeper turmoil.

Protesters, including families and people of all ages marched, played music and sang as they headed towards Martyrs’ Square overlooking the sea. Security forces have installed additional barricades and barbed wire.

A group of protesters chanted ‘revolution’ as they walked among the crowd waving flags. ‘People want the downfall of the regime’, chanted another group, employing the slogan of protest movements that shook the Arab world in 2011. The national anthem played and protesters sang along.

Their ‘You Stink’ protest campaign was mobilised after the government failed to solve a crisis in trash disposal, leaving piles of refuse rotting in the summer sun.

It has been widely described as the biggest protest movement in Lebanon’s history organised independently of the sectarian parties that dominate politics.

Amnesty International said yesterday Lebanon should investigate allegations that security personnel used excessive force to disperse protesters in Beirut last week, calling for restraint ahead of the new rally.

Protest organisers blamed last weekend’s violence on “infiltrators” linked to political movements. Security forces last week fired water cannon and tear gas at demonstrators, some of whom threw stones and sticks at riot police.

Amnesty, quoting figures from the Red Cross, said at least 343 people were treated for injuries and 59 more were hospitalised last week.

Campaigners are calling for the environment minister to resign, for snap parliamentary elections and a resolution to the garbage crisis. They also want better public services in a country with daily electricity cuts and summer water shortages.

“We are asking since last week for the defeated and poor Lebanese people, and those who need work and medical services, to join us today in this protest,” activist Khaldoun Jaber said, after camping out overnight in a square near the government headquarters. “Maybe we can achieve the Lebanon we dream of.”