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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Conflicting mass rallies deepens Lebanon's political crisis |
| 2006-12-11 |
| (Xinhua) -- Lebanon on Sunday witnessed two conflicting mass rallies: one in downtown Beirut demanding ouster of current government and another in the northern city of Tripoli pledging support for it. People worry that the two contradicting rallies might widen the sharp split among the rival politicians and their supporters. The anti-government rally began at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT). The protestors gathered in the Squares of Riyadh al-Solha and Martyr in downtown Beirut, waving Lebanese white-and-red national flags and chanting anti-government slogans. "Change is coming," read banners carried by the demonstrators. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said the protest promised to be larger than the rally on Dec. 1 that kicked off the opposition campaign. "This is a sea of demonstrators unprecedented in the history of Lebanon," an army spokesman was quoted as saying, estimating that "hundreds of thousands" had gathered in the heart of Beirut and on access roads to the city center. While addressing the protestors, Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem called on Prime Minister Fouad Seniora to "resign to preserve your dignity and honor, and Lebanon's honor..." He also vowed that the protest, launched on Dec. 1, would continue for as long as 10 months until the anti-government factions achieve veto-powered partnership in the cabinet. Shortly before the anti-government protest was launched at 3 p.m. (1300 GMT), Beirut looked more like an army barracks with military vehicles manning crossroads. In Tripoli, 80 kilometers north of Beirut, hundreds of thousands of government sympathizers cheered as parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri stressed through a telephone connection that "the government would not fall. (President Emile) Lahoud will collapse." Saad Hariri, the son of ex-premier Rafik Hariri who was assassinated by a huge blast targeting his motorcade in Beirut in February 2005, reminded sympathizers that Lahoud's mandate in office was extended for three years by an illegal constitutional amendment under Syrian pressure in 2004. Observers here see no end to the conflicting mass rallies in the near future, worrying more violence, or even a civil war will be if the political crisis deepens. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 The customary Cursing of the Mustaches before the shoes start to fly... |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2006-12-11 03:51 |