LEBANON: Tens of thousands pour into Beirut for a Hezbollah-led protest aimed at bringing down the government, which has vowed it will not yield to pressure

Hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah-led protesters rallied on Friday (December 1) at the doorstep of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora to force the resignation of his U.S.-backed government. "We are all here to topple the government, we need a government that can be held responsible, demand our rights, secure all of our demands, and to investigate these crimes. If it could not find out who killed one of its ministers, what is this government that can not lead and protect its country? We need a government that can be held responsible." said protester Cynthia Fayrouz. Saad al-Hariri, a prominent anti-Syrian Sunni Muslim leader, said the protests would not bring down the government. Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful Shi'ite Muslim group, and its pro-Syrian allies had called on Lebanese from across the country to take part in the protest in the capital Beirut, to be followed by the indefinite sit-in. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has branded the government a U.S. puppet. Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun was met with cheers when he called on Siniora and his ministers to quit. Speaking on behalf of the opposition, Aoun demanded a national unity government. A senior opposition source said supporters who had imposed a blockade on the government offices from where Siniora and most of his ministers were monitoring the protest, later eased it and opened a road to the complex after contacts between opposition leaders and Arab diplomats. "The government received our message," he said. Several thousand opposition supporters set up tents near the offices and planned to spend the night there as part of the open-ended sit-in. Large numbers of security forces, backed by armoured troop carriers, were deployed. Scores of soldiers, using barbed wire and metal barriers, cordoned off the complex. "We came here to teach the government, which stood beside the Zionist enemy, (we came to teach) the government of traitors, that we will resist not only 33 days (referring to the last 34 days war between Hezbollah and Israel), but we will resist 33 months and 33 years, because we have nothing to do, and we will stay here to guarantee the future of all our bothers and (pay tribute to all) our brothers who died," said protester Mohammed Moussa who was camping out overnight. Siniora and many ministers were inside while metres away, the crowds massed, waving red-and-white Lebanese flags under banners demanding a government of national unity. Sources close to the organisers estimated the crowd at more than 1 million. Hezbollah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Kassem had said before the protests the campaign would continue until Siniora's cabinet fell. Hezbollah has been at loggerheads with Siniora's government over what it says was its failure to back the group during the July-August war with Israel. Siniora said on Thursday (November 30) his government would not quit. The anti-Syrian politicians who control the cabinet say the Shi'ite Muslim group and its allies want to stage a coup. The government was weakened last month by the resignation of six opposition ministers and the November 21 assassination of anti-Syrian Christian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel. His funeral drew tens of thousands into central Beirut, with many mourners accusing Damascus of being behind the killing. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, the most prominent anti-Syrian leader, urged supporters to remain calm and avoid street confrontations. He said Hezbollah wanted to install Syrian and Iranian tutelage over the country.

ITN Source | December 2, 2006

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