Lebanonwire.com | Lebanon opposition, government head for showdown in parliament, on street

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February 28, 2005

Lebanon opposition, government head for showdown in parliament, on street

by Nayla Razzouk

BEIRUT, Feb 28 (AFP) - Two weeks after the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, some 10,000 people massed in the streets of Beirut early Monday in defiance of a ban as the government faced a tough test in parliament where the opposition planned to present a censure motion to bring it down.

The Lebanese opposition vowed to defy the pro-Syrian regime on the streets and in parliament on Monday, amid claims of ministerial resignations, after a top US envoy upheld demands for an immediate Syrian troop pullout from Lebanon.

Waving the Lebanese flag and shouting "Syria out!" the protesters ignored a ban on demonstrations and converged on the central Martyrs' Square as hundreds of heavily armed but good-natured troops aided by police deployed jeeps and trucks to the main crossroads leading to the square.

They continued the sit-in on Martyrs' Square after 5:00 am (0300 GMT) despite the ban on protests, announced by Lebanese Interior Minister Suleiman Frangieh, coming into effect.

At 0300 GMT the opposition demonstrators sang the national anthem, as leading opposition figure Akram Shehayeb harangued the crowd and called on the watching soldiers to join the protest.

Leading opposition figure Elias Attallah told AFP: "The ban does not concern us, we are only holding a peaceful sit-in which will be maintained.

Let them arrest us."

The opposition, which blamed the regime and Syria for Hariri's murder in a February 14 bomb blast, as well as the business community called for a general strike and sit-in in Martyrs' Square where Hariri was buried.

Lebanon's junior minister for administrative development Ibrahim Daher early Monday denied a claim by an opposition member of parliament that he had resigned.

Opposition MP Nayla Moawad had told the protesters that three members of the pro-Syrian Lebanese government had resigned. Energy Minister Maurice Sehnaoui, Economy and Commerce Minister Adnane Kassar and Daher had all quit, she told the crowd to loud applause.

Daher contacted the organizers of the demonstration to deny the claim. The two other ministers, technocrats who head big Lebanese banks, could not immediately be reached for comment.

The government ban on street protests was announced Sunday after pro-regime groups pledged to stage a counter-demonstration at the same time and place where the opposition planned its sit-in.

Monday's parliament session, called by 37 of the house's 127 members to demand the truth about Hariri's assassination, was expected to be a crucial test for the government of Prime Minister Omar Karameh.

But the session may last for several days, given the large number of deputies who asked for time to speak, according to press reports.

The opposition does not have the majority to bring down the government, but has been trying to rally the votes of more MPs angered by Hariri's assassination, they said.

The Beirut government and Syria have rejected responsibility for Hariri's killing and refused to allow an international inquiry as demanded by Paris and Washington, but have agreed to cooperate with a visiting UN fact-finding
mission.

Washington's number two Middle East pointman, David Satterfield, who arrived in Beirut on Saturday, called for the immediate implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559 which demands an end to foreign military
presence in Lebanon.

Lebanese Defence Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad announced Thursday an imminent Syrian military pullback to the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, but on Sunday there were still no developments on the ground.

Satterfield also called for a "credible investigation" into Hariri's killing, warned Syria against harming Lebanon's stability and demanded the pro-Syrian Lebanese movement Hezbollah halt acts of "terror" against Israel.

Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara, on a regional tour, rejected Sunday pressure for the implementation of Resolution 1559, insisting that Damascus and Beirut remained bound by the Taef accord which foresaw a more gradual pullback.

His Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit said he was seeking a compromise under which Syria would be allowed to withdraw gradually under existing bilateral agreements which would be seen as an indirect way of implementing the Security Council's demands.

"Egypt believes the situation is delicate and sensitive, and requires action" that achieves an "overlap between the Taef agreement and Resolution 1559," Abul Gheit said after talks with Shara in Cairo.

But the next leg of the foreign minister's travels Monday was Saudi Arabia, where officials promised him a more demanding time amid strong interest from the royal family in the fate of Hariri, a close business partner and
naturalised Saudi citizen.

The political crisis in Lebanon has prompted Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Algeria to engage in contacts aimed at securing an "Arab umbrella" for the remaining 14,000 Syrian troops to withdraw from Lebanon, Arab diplomats in Riyadh said.

Contacts on the international front have also been under way to defuse the crisis sparked by Hariri's assassination, they said.