A crowd of 500,000 flag-waving Lebanese packed a square in central Beirut on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The turnout, reminiscent of huge protests after the Feb. 14 2005 murder that forced Syria to bow to international pressure and leave Lebanon, looked set to give fresh impetus to the country's anti-Syrian coalition that dominates the government after winning a general election in May and June.The coalition of Sunni Muslim, Christian and Druze political forces, which called the rally, is demanding to know the truth about Hariri's assassination, which it blames on Damascus, and the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud. "We miss you," read large posters of Hariri. "They feared you, so they killed you," others said. "He lived Lebanon and died for its sake," a black banner read. "I came here to say that the terrorist Syrian regime that kills will never escape punishment," Amal Yassin, a mother of three, told Reuters as she waved a red-and-white Lebanese flag.
Leaders of the coalition, including Hariri's son Saad al-Hariri, were expected to address the crowd, estimated by security sources at half-a-million of Lebanon's 4 million population. Shi'ite Muslims, led by Syrian and Iranian ally Hezbollah, largely stayed away from the rally. Thousands of Lebanese soldiers and police were deployed in Beirut and its suburbs as people converged from across Lebanon on Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, where Hariri is buried.