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Lebanese soldiers preparing for Hezbollah protests (AP)
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| By Associated Press December 1, 2006 |
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Hundreds of thousands protesters from Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies descended on downtown Beirut on Friday in a peaceful but noisy protest to force the resignation of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, who was holed up in his office ringed by hundreds of police and combat troops.
The protesters created a sea of Lebanese flags that blanketed downtown and spilled onto the surrounding streets. Many chanted slogans demanding Saniora quit amid the deafening sound of Hezbollah's revolutionary and nationalist songs, but no clashes were immediately reported.
The pro-Syria and Iranian-backed Hezbollah and its allies are struggling to obtain veto-wielding power in the country's Cabinet -- a demand Seniora has rejected. The guerrilla group hopes the mass demonstration, which police estimated at 800,000 but Hezbollah claimed was larger, will generate enough popular pressure to further paralyze Saniora's government, forcing it to step down.
A demonstration last week for a slain anti-Syrian politician also drew hundreds of thousands of people to downtown, filling Martyr's Square. But Friday's appeared larger, as protesters swarmed not only that square but others as well as nearby streets and parking lots.
Hezbollah and its allies also called for an open-ended protest and supporters plan to set up camp around the clock in tents that were erected on a road outside Saniora's office and in a downtown square.
"I wish that the prime minister and his ministers were among us today, not hiding behind barbed wire and army armored carriers. He who has his people behind him does not need barbed wire," Michel Aoun, a Christian leader and Hezbollah ally, told the crowd.
Hezbollah has tried to depict the protest as rallying all Lebanese, not just its supporters. It urged demonstrators to wave only the red and white Lebanese flag with its green cedar tree -- a stark contrast to past rallies by the group, which saw huge numbers of yellow Hezbollah flags that display a fist and Kalashnikov.
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nassrallah, who has not made a public appearance since a September rally for the militant group, could not be seen Friday.
Inside the prime minister's building, Saniora went about his schedule, in what appeared to be a tactic to ignore the throngs outside. A day earlier, a defiant Saniora vowed his government would not fall but warned that "Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger."
Heavily armed soldiers and police closed all roads leading to Saniora's sprawling headquarters that overlooked the massive rally. Barbed wire and other barricades were placed around the stone-walled building to prevent any protests from spilling over during what some newspapers have billed as the "great showdown" between the government and the opposition.
Sixteen armored carriers, several hundred combat troops and armed police on Friday ringed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's office in unprecedented security measures ahead of a massive protest by Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies aimed at ousting the Western-backed leader.
Opposition groups led by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah have mobilized their bases for the afternoon protest and were making arrangements to bus supporters from all corners of Lebanon to downtown Beirut for the massive show of popular support.
Heavily armed soldiers and police closed all roads leading to the sprawling complex in downtown, feverishly unfurling barbed wire and placing barricades to prevent any protests from spilling over into the stone-walled, brick-roofed historic building during what some newspapers billed as the "great showdown" between the government and the opposition.
Although there have been assurances by organizers of a peaceful demonstration, the stringent security measures came amid fears that the protests may turn into street clashes between pro- and anti-Syrian factions or that Hezbollah supporters could try to storm Saniora's government headquarters.
Schools in some areas were closed Friday. Others opened until noon to give students time to return home before the expected deluge of protesters. Many businesses in the city center were closed because of the tight security, but elsewhere banks remained opened.
Launching a long-threatened campaign to force Lebanon's U.S.-backed government from office, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies on Thursday called for the mass demonstrations Friday followed by a wave of open-ended protests.
But a defiant Saniora vowed his government would not fall, warning in a nationally televised speech Thursday night that "Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger."
Ironically, Saniora asked Lebanese to show support by raising the Lebanese flag on their windows and balconies. Hezbollah's leader has called on protesters to also carry the same banner, the national red and white flag with the historic Cedar tree in its middle.
But both camps seemed wide apart on what kind of Lebanon they want.
Government supporters accuse Syria of being behind the Hezbollah campaign, trying to regain its lost influence in its smaller neighbor. Hezbollah and its allies, in turn, say the country has fallen under U.S. domination and that they have lost their rightful portion of power.
Hezbollah had threatened to call mass demonstrations unless it and its allies obtain a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet -- a demand that Saniora and the anti-Syrian parties have rejected. The aim of the protests is to generate enough popular pressure to further paralyze the government, forcing it to step down.
Hezbollah's deputy leader, Sheik Naim Kassim, made it clear the fight is against "American tutelage" and said the protest action will continue until the government falls.
"We will not let you sell Lebanon, we will protect the constitution and people of Lebanon," Kassim said on television Friday, addressing Saniora.
Christian leader and Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun also warned Saniora that he was reaching his end and urged him to resign.
Hezbollah has proven in past rallies that it can draw hundreds of thousands of its Shiite supporters into the streets.
The United States has made Lebanon a key front in its attempts to rein in Syria and its ally, regional powerhouse Iran. U.S. President George W. Bush warned earlier this week that the two countries were trying to destabilize Lebanon.
Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, called for the protests to be peaceful. From the other camp, the head of the anti-Syrian bloc in parliament, Saad Hariri, said his supporters should not hold counter-demonstrations.
"Tomorrow is a day when we will show our resolve," Hariri told The Associated Press Thursday. Still, he vowed to be "strong with the government. ... We will not accept to be part of an axis of Syria and Iran."
Walid Jumblatt, a senior anti-Syrian pro-government figure, joined Hariri's calls for supporters to remain calm.
"Let them go down on the streets ... We can wait, a month, two months. When they want dialogue, we are ready," Jumblatt told reporters on Friday.
In announcing the protests, Nasrallah said that Saniora's government "has proven it is incompetent and has failed to fulfill its promises and achieve anything significant."
Tensions are high in Lebanon after a string of assassinations of anti-Syrian figures over the past two years, including a prominent Christian government minister gunned down last week and Hariri's father, former prime minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a February 2005 bomb blast.
The battle is a fallout from the summer war between Hezbollah and Israel that ravaged parts of Lebanon. The guerrilla force's strong resistance against Israeli troops sent its support among Shiites skyrocketing, emboldening it to grab more political power. Hezbollah also feels Saniora did not do enough to support it during the fight.
Pro-government groups, in turn, resent Hezbollah for sparking the fight by snatching two Israeli soldiers, dragging Lebanon into war with Israel.
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