BEIRUT, March 14: Hundreds of thousands of anti-Syrian protesters, chanting “truth, freedom, national unity”, flooded central Beirut on Monday in Lebanon’s biggest rally since ex-premier Rafik Hariri was killed a month ago.
Flag-waving crowds from across Lebanon packed the capital’s Martyrs’ Square, near Mr Hariri’s grave, and swamped nearby areas to demand an international inquiry into his death, the sacking of Syrian-backed security chiefs and a total Syrian pullout.
In contrast to previous anti-Syrian protests since Mr Hariri’s assassination on Feb 14, many Sunnis joined Druze and Christians in taking to the streets.
“We demand to know who killed Rafik al Hariri,” said Mustapha Mrad, a demonstrator carrying a Lebanese flag with a Hariri badge pinned to his jacket.
Organizers claimed a million people had joined the protest.
Men, woman and children formed a vast sea of red and white — the opposition colours — as they thronged the square and streets all around. They stood in hushed silence for two minutes to commemorate Mr Hariri, a billionaire philanthropist.
They heard their leaders heaping blame on Syria and its allies for the assassination and demanding a Syrian pullout.
“You want the truth? It’s clear... the world and Lebanon know them (the killers) well, know them one by one, name by name, rank by rank,” said Marwan Hamadeh, a Druze opposition MP who escaped an assassination attempt in October.
Bahiya Hariri, sister of the slain ex-premier and a member of parliament, had harsh words for Syrian-backed officials, but reached out to Syria and Hezbollah.
“We will stand by Syria until its land is liberated and it regains its sovereignty on the (Israeli-) occupied Golan Heights,” she said, describing Syria as a sister of Lebanon — and drawing boos from the crowd.
ROLE FOR HEZBOLLAH: Hailing Hezbollah’s armed struggle against Israeli occupation of Lebanon, Mr Hariri’s sister said: “We insist on building together with them the future of great Lebanon.”
Last week hundreds of thousands of people gathered in central Beirut to support Hezbollah’s right to bear arms and to thank Syria for its role in Lebanon, where Damascus has kept troops since intervening in the country’s civil war in 1976.
Other speakers took hardline positions against Syria and its allies in Lebanon.
“I ask his excellency the president (Emile Lahoud) to meet the demand of all Lebanese: resign and let us rest,” Christian politician Carlos Edde told the crowd to wild applause.
The verbal bashing of top officials at the protest is set to further complicate the already almost impossible mission of Syrian-backed Prime Minister-designate Omar Karami, who starts consultations on forming a new government that groups loyalists and opposition members.
