Saniora, who has been holed up in his office only few meters (yards) from the protesters, made clear he has no intention of stepping down and urged Hizbullah to abandon its protests. "This government will continue as long as it enjoys the support and backing of the constitutional institutions in the country, most importantly Parliament," he told reporters Saturday. He called on Hizbullah to return to the negotiating table but offered no suggestions for how that might happen. "Taking to the streets will not lead us anywhere ... There is just one way to solve our problems and that is to sit behind a table to discuss all our differences," he said. "Other than that it is a waste of time, waste of resources and waste of opportunities," Saniora added.
As he spoke, thousands of Hizbullah supporters were noisily clamoring around hundreds of tents set up in central Beirut, where they vowed to stay until Saniora's government falls. Hizbullah's support among Shiites skyrocketed after its strong showing in its war with Israel over the summer, and that has in part emboldened the group to demand a greater role in government. Six pro- Hizbullah ministers resigned last month after the group's demand for a national unity government that would effectively give its and its allies veto power was rejected by the anti-Syrian majority. Hezbollah and its allies contend the real fight is against American influence, saying the United States now dominates Lebanon in the interests of Israel. "This government is a puppet. Saniora's Cabinet takes its orders from (US President George W.) Bush and has lunch with (US Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice while its own people are being killed," said Hussein Shuqair, a 20-year-old student.
Many in Lebanon, particularly Hizbullah supporters, were angered by TV footage of Lebanese government officials having lunch with Rice at the U.S. Embassy during Israel's 34-day bombing blitz against Lebanon, at a time the US was seen as encouraging the Israeli bombing campaign aimed at destroying Hizbullah 's military capabilities. "This government promised a lot of things but did not deliver and that's why it must go," said Shuqair, as he sat eating a cheese sandwich on a white plastic chair outside his tent.
On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Hizbullah supporters flooded downtown Beirut, the Lebanese capital, in a massive, peaceful demonstration, chanting nationalist slogans and songs just outside the main government offices. Barbed wire and armored vehicles separated the demonstrators from government headquarters where Saniora and some of his ministers have hunkered down. Following the demonstration, participants set up hundreds of white tents across the downtown area - a dozen or so just 50 meters (yards) from Saniora's offices. Hizbullah's Al-Manar television station said about 500 tents were pitched in central Beirut.
Hizbullah supporters set up water tanks and portable latrines and distributed sandwiches, tea and coffee to those camped out. Young men sprawled on mats in and outside their white tents under the bright, warm sun. Some read newspapers, others smoked water pipes. Dozens of white-capped Hizbullah workers swept the streets, littered with leftover food and drinks from the night before.