Huge Beirut rally piles pressure on US-backed govt
Source: Reuters
(Adds Arab League chief expected in Beirut) By Crispian Balmer BEIRUT, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of chanting protesters swamped Beirut on Sunday in a Hezbollah-led rally that marked a leap forward in the opposition's drive to unseat Lebanon's Western-backed government. In a huge show of force, crowds waving a forest of red-and-white Lebanese flags crammed into two vast squares to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. "Siniora out," demonstrators chanted. "Beirut is free," others yelled in what one security force source estimated was the biggest rally in Lebanese history. Giant loudspeakers blared out nationalist songs and drummers thudded a relentless beat on the 10th day of a round-the-clock protest aimed at getting Siniora and his Sunni-backed majority to set up a government of national unity. Holed up in his well-protected office, which is ringed by coils of razor wire, Siniora urged his opponents to end their street demonstrations and resume negotiations. "On this occasion, I call on the protesters to come back to the constitutional institutions to discuss all contested issues and reach real solutions," he said in a statement. But Sunday's mammoth rally will give pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its disparate partners fresh impetus, strengthening their conviction that Siniora will ultimately have to back down and hand them the power of veto in a broad-based government. Government sources said Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa would arrive in Beirut on Tuesday to resume talks on a proposal to resolve the crisis. Moussa was in Lebanon last week before travelling to Washington. Sudanese envoy, presidential adviser Mustafa Osman Ismail, told Arabiya television from Damascus that all parties in Lebanon had agreed to Arab League mediation. He said talks would resume on a package deal to include demands from both sides. "NO PLACE FOR AMERICA" Speakers told the throngs that the government was a puppet of the United States, repeating accusations that Siniora's allies had hoped Israel would crush the Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah in its recent war with Israel. "I tell you that after the (Israeli) aggression ... there is no place for America in Lebanon," said Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem, speaking behind bullet proof-glass. The crowd responded: "Death to America, death to Israel, long live a dignified Lebanon". Siniora has accused Hezbollah of trying to stage a coup following its war and commentators have warned the worsening stand-off could degenerate into sectarian violence in a country that is still trying to rebuild after a 1975-90 civil war. Whereas the last civil war started out primarily as a fight between Christian and Muslim militia, the main faultline now lies between Lebanon's Sunni community and the Shi'ites. One Shi'ite protester has been killed and several people hurt in shooting incidents, riots and clashes between supporters of both sides over the past week. The prime minister told a conference earlier in the day that Lebanon's security, economy and political system were at stake, but said its democracy was strong enough to absorb the shock of the protests. "This challenge covers the vision of Lebanon's future, the future of its system and its place in the region and the world." Underlining the political passions at play, tens of thousands of pro-government supporters staged a rally on Sunday in the Sunni city of Tripoli in northern Lebanon. Pope Benedict urged Lebanon on Sunday to back away from political crisis and asked the international community to help find urgent, peaceful solutions at this "grave moment". Populist Christian leader Michel Aoun, a former general who has forged an unlikely alliance with Hezbollah, told the rally if Siniora did not concede "in the next few days", the opposition would demand early elections. Siniora's supporters say Hezbollah simply wants to derail plans to set up an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which many Lebanese blame on Syria -- a charge Damascus denies. (Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki in Beirut and Heba Kandil in Dubai)
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