BEIRUT (AFP) – Thousands of people defied a government ban and massed in the heart of Beirut as Lebanese parliament held a stormy debate set to culminate in a vote of no-confidence in the pro-Syrian regime. The anti-Syria rally came exactly two weeks after the assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri which triggered a wave of public opposition against the Lebanese government and its backers in Damascus who are blamed for the murder. Waving large red and white Lebanese flags and shouting “Syria out!” protesters descended on Martyrs’ Square where Hariri is buried as hundreds of heavily armed troops and police guarded surrounding streets but did not prevent the rally.
By Lucy Fielder BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Syrian-backed government banned protests planned for Monday but a main opposition figure vowed the Lebanese would take to the streets to demand who killed former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri. Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh called on security forces in a statement on Sunday “to take all necessary steps to preserve security and order and prevent demonstrations and gatherings on Monday.” Opposition groups have called a protest at the central Martyrs Square by Hariri’s grave and a one-day strike to coincide with a parliamentary debate on the killing that for many recalled Lebanon’s bitter 1975-90 civil war.
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – A visiting senior U.S. State Department official on Sunday brushed off accusations Washington’s calls for Syria to leave Lebanon as soon as possible amounted to interference in Lebanese internal affairs. David Satterfield, a U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state, was scheduled to meet Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud to convey the U.S. demand for a full and immediate withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon and the need for a thorough inquiry into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Satterfield, pressed after a meeting with Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite Catholic Church, about whether Washington considers there to be a deadline for a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, said: “We want to see it take place as soon as possible.”
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The murder of their former prime minister has united the people of Lebanon behind ending a 15-year Syrian occupation, a top US Mideast diplomat said, pointing to such a move as overdue. In response to Rafiq Hariri’s slaying 11 days ago, Lebanese demonstrators demanded Syria withdraw from the country. Beirut announced Thursday an imminent pull back of Syrian troops to the eastern Bekaa Valley near the border. “The assassination, the terrorist murder, of prime minister Hariri has had a very significant impact,” US deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs David Satterfield told US-funded Alhurra television.
By Nadim Ladki BEIRUT (Reuters) – A U.N. team began an inquiry in Beirut on Friday into former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri’s assassination, which the Lebanese opposition blamed on Syria. Syrian troops in Mount Lebanon and northern parts of the country stayed put, a day after Damascus announced it was planning to pull back its troops toward the border in line with the Taif Accord that ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war. The U.N. Security Council, angered by the Feb. 14 bombing that killed Hariri and 17 others, had asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to report urgently on “the circumstances, causes and consequences of the assassination.”
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer ALEY, Lebanon – Syrian soldiers stationed in the mountains overlooking Beirut and in Lebanon’s northern regions went about their daily chores Friday, exercising, manning posts
By ALBERT AJI, Associated Press Writer DAMASCUS, Syria – Syria will withdraw troops from mountain and coastal areas in Lebanon in line with a 1989 agreement, Lebanon’s defense minister said Thursday amid international pressure following the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanese Defense Minister Abdul-Rahim Murad said the troops will be withdrawn to the eastern Bekaa Valley on the Syrian border, but he gave no timeframe. Lebanese and Syrian military officers have begun meetings to define “the dates and the way” the withdrawal will take place, Murad said, adding that the pullback was in line with the Arab-brokered Taif agreement that ended Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.
By ZEINA KARAM, Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister said Wednesday he was willing to resign in an effort to contain growing anger at his government and Damascus over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Prime Minister Omar Karami made the offer to step down in a newspaper interview. “I am ready to resign on condition that we agree on a new government in order to avoid falling into a constitutional vacuum,” he told the daily An-Nahar. Karami said he will seek a vote of confidence in Parliament on Monday, when lawmakers meet to discuss Hariri’s assassination in a Feb. 14 bombing in Beirut that also killed 16 others. The debate was requested by opposition legislators.
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) — Lebanon’s president says his government will share with a U.N. inquiry any evidence gathered on the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, a U.N. spokesman said Tuesday. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan received a letter from Lebanese President Emile Lahoud on Monday promising that support, said spokesman Fred Eckhard.An investigative team is expected to arrive in Lebanon shortly, said a U.N. spokesman. It will begin work toward a report requested urgently by the U.N. Security Council on the “circumstances, causes and consequences” of the explosion that killed Hariri on February 14.
MAINZ, Germany (AFP) – US President George W. Bush said Syria must withdraw its troops and “secret services” from Lebanon but that he would await the response from Damascus before seeking any new UN sanctions. “Syria must withdraw not only the troops but its secret services from Lebanon,” Bush said during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Bush added that Damascus must not try to influence upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon. “Syria in so doing will indicate the other point that the president of France and I wanted to make and that is those elections that are coming up need to be free, without any Syrian influence.”