Lebanonwire.com | Lebanese opposition adds voice to clamor for Syria pullout

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March 2, 2005

Lebanese opposition adds voice to clamor for Syria pullout
by Nagib Khazzaka

MUKHTARA, Lebanon, March 2 (AFP) - Lebanon's opposition called Wednesday for an end to Syrian domination of the country as its embattled president struggled to find a new premier amid relentless US pressure on his political masters in Damascus.

About 70 opposition figures, leading a massive popular uprising that triggered the dramatic fall of the Syrian-backed government two days ago, announced a series of demands "as the basis of any future (political) participation."

After a joint meeting at the mountain home of opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, they called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to announce a troop pullout from the country and for the resignation of security officials there.

They also demanded the "immediate" resignation of Lebanon's public prosecutor and the country's six top security and intelligence officials to ensure the integrity of the probe into the February 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

"These are the basis for our participation in anything in the future," said MP Ahmad Fatfat, reading the joint opposition statement.

He said that once President Emile Lahoud sets a date for parliamentary consultations to name a new prime minister to replace Omar Karameh who resigned Monday, the opposition will be collectively represented by two MPs.

"The names of the delegation will be announced in due time," he said.

"They will present a similar statement including these demands ...which are the political basis upon which we can engage in discussions...and that precede any serious (political) participation" by the opposition, he said.

The opposition has blamed the Karameh government and its backers in Syria for the massive bomb blast that killed Hariri and 18 other people.

As the political crisis triggered by Hariri's assassination deepened, the international community piled the pressure on Syria which has dominated military and political life in Lebanon for almost three decades.

In its latest broadside, the United States accused Syria of being an obstacle to democratic reform in the Middle East and linked it to last week's suicide bombing in Israel that shook a fragile Israeli-Palestinian truce.

And top US ally Britain warned Damascus against interfering in the political process in Lebanon with elections due by the end of May.

The fall of the Karameh government, hailed as a rare triumph of "people power" in the Middle East, has also added to the woes of the Syrian president.

Assad, under fire not only over Lebanon but its alleged interference in Iraq and Friday's Tel Aviv bombing blamed on Palestinian militants in Damascus, has sought to ease tensions by pledging a troop withdrawal "within months."

Leading Arab efforts to help ease the situation, Egypt said Wednesday the United Nations should be involved in a withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon and that a mechanism was under discussion.

Lahoud, a Damascus protege, has yet to call for consultations with MPs to find a candidate for the premiership as required under the constitution and is himself facing calls to stand down.

"I prefer that (Lahoud) leaves and that we get rid of this bad regime and start a new page in Lebanese-Syrian and internal Lebanese relations," said Jumblatt.

The opposition has called for the formation of a "neutral" interim cabinet -- without regime loyalists or opposition figures -- to oversee at least a partial Syrian pullout ahead of the elections.

Karameh's resignation came amid a massive protest on Martyrs' Square in Beirut where protestors have been camping out in a sea of red and white Lebanese flags almost every day since Hariri was killed.

Meanwhile, Lahoud told a visiting UN team of experts that Lebanese authorities were determined to cooperate with the world body to find Hariri's killers.

Seventeen days after the attack, the body of a 19th victim from the bombing was recovered from the site of the blast by civil defense workers who struggled to keep out angry relatives complaining of negligence.