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Thousands gather for rival memorials in Lebanon |
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Written by AFP
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Tens of thousands of pro-government supporters converged on central Beirut on Thursday for the third anniversary of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's assassination, just miles from where Lebanon's opposition group Hezbollah prepared to bury a top commander slain by a car bomb.
Amid fears of clashes between the rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions, army troops and security forces were deployed heavily in the capital. The factions have faced off repeatedly in recent weeks.
A sea of people gathered under pouring rain in Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, where Hariri is buried, waving Lebanese flags and photos of the slain leader as well as other politicians and figures killed in the past three years. The Western-backed government's supporters blame the attacks on Syria, which along with Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah.
Damascus has denied any involvement in the killings.
As the rally got underway, members of Hariri's family and the ruling coalition inaugurated a square at the site of his killing on the Beirut seafront.
They also unveiled a bronze statue, a sculpture in the form of a flame and an obelisk bearing his accomplishments and sayings.
Martyrs' Square was packed with demonstrators and cars continued to flood highways and streets leading to the city where organizers handed out Lebanese flags, umbrellas and plastic bags to the demonstrators.
Organisers said hundreds of thousands of people had turned out for the anniversary.
"Open our parliament, free our government, elect a president now," read one banner, referring to the power struggle between the pro- and anti-Syrian factions that has left Lebanon without a head of state since November.
Ramia Gharib, a seamstress in her 40s, said she was attending the rally to show her support for the ruling majority.
"We want a presidential election, we want the international tribunal," she said referring to a UN probe into Hariri's murder.
Another protester, Mohammed, said he had travelled to Beirut from the eastern Bekaa region to demand an end to the presidential deadlock.
"I was willing to come down here even under bombs," Mohammed told AFP.
Lebanon has been mired in a deep political crisis since Hariri's murder, which sparked international outrage and forced the pullout of Syrian troops after a 29-year-presence.
It has been without a president since November, when pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his mandate with no elected successor. All attempts to elect a new president have since failed.
Steel barriers separated the Hariri protesters in central Beirut from a nearby tent city erected more than a year ago by opposition supporters to try to force the resignation of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government.
In the city's southern Shiite suburbs, Hezbollah prepared to bury Imad Mughnieh, one of its top commanders killed in a car bombing on Tuesday which the movement blamed on Israel.
The Jewish state denied responsibility although senior politicians welcomed his death and a US State Department spokesman said the world would be "a better place" without him.
Mughnieh, 45, was on America's Most Wanted list for his role in a string of attacks in the 1980s and 90s against American and Israeli targets, including the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut in 1983 and the hijacking of a TWA flight in 1985.
"The elimination (of Mughnieh) is a painful blow, and the toughest blow, against Hezbollah," said Al-Akhbar daily, which is close to the Syria- and Iran-backed opposition.
"This master stroke by Israel seems very professional," it said.
"Imad Mughnieh: author of heroic operations, martyred," wrote the daily As-Safir, which is also close to the opposition. "It is a huge and heavy blow for Hezbollah."
The government declared Thursday a holiday to commemorate Hariri's death and schools and universities were ordered shut. But not all Lebanese had enthusiasm either for the Hariri rally or Mughnieh's funeral to be held later.
"The rally is aimed at stoking unrest and dissent rather than unifying the Lebanese," said Kahlid al-Solh, 50, a Sunni merchant from the Bekaa Valley. "So I don't see a reason to take part."
George, a hairdresser in Ashrafiyeh, a Christian district of Beirut, said he also planned to snub the protest.
"I took part in the mass rally in 2005 after Hariri died but this time around I won't because I am sick of the situation," he said, asking that his last name not be used. "I am not up for hire when the politicians wish."
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Madness takes over Lebanon.
Militants are fighting in the streets of Beirut. Military guns are on both sides. What is the prospect of such a situation. Aren't the Lebanese fed-up with wars?
23 November 2007
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud left the Baabda presidential palace without handing over the power to a new president. This is the first time since independence in 1943. |
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