Thousands March Against Syria in Beirut (Biggest Protest To Date)
Typical misreporting by the MSM. Original title should have read million+
Posted on 03/14/2005 9:59:12 PM PST by Valin
The battle for the streets of Lebanon reached new heights yesterday when hundreds of thousands of anti-Syria protesters, some with Lebanese flags painted on their faces, swamped the centre of Beirut. Few had any doubt that it was the biggest demonstration the city had ever seen, or was likely ever to see, easily outstripping last week's pro-Syria rally, which drew a crowd of about half a million.
The Lebanese opposition had been stunned by the size of Hizbullah's rally last week and spared no effort to out-do it yesterday. Buses were chartered to bring demonstrators to the capital from around the country, and many arrived in convoys of cars from the Beka'a Valley and the south.
Some schools closed for the day, and groups of schoolchildren and students were in evidence on the streets.
Two hours before the official start of the protest - called to mark the moment a month earlier when the former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri was assassinated - Martyrs Square was packed with people and Lebanese flags.
Many of the flags were attached to broom handles, others rose above the crowds on the end of fishing rods, and one demonstrator even flew a kite with a flag attached.
Many placards read: "100% Lebanese"or "United colours of Lebanon".
Before long, the crowds had spilled over from Martyrs Square and began filling the nearby Riad al-Solh Square, where Hizbullah's demonstration was held last week.
As the rally began, half a mile from its centre motorists in cars decorated with flags and pictures of Hariri were still edging through crowded streets looking for a place to park. Across town, the normally bustling Hamra district was ghostly, with almost all the shops closed but still a few straggling demonstrators with flags.
For a country with a population of only 3.5 million, the scale of recent protests has been unprecedented, raising fears about how long they will remain peaceful.
In a sermon on Sunday, the Maronite (Christian) patriarch warned: "If shows of forces continue in the streets, no one knows where this will lead us to and this is what spiteful people are looking for."
The Syrian-backed president, Emile Lahoud, has also been trying to dampen the fervour for street protests.
In Sidon, 25 miles south of the capital, Hizbullah and the opposition have agreed to call off rival demonstrations after meetings over the weekend, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported yesterday.
Syria's military withdrawal continued yesterday, with intelligence agents closing offices in the northern towns of Amyoun and Deir Ammar, on the coastal road between the port city of Tripoli and the Syrian border. Intelligence agents also dismantled two checkpoints in the Akkar area. More than 70 agents are believed to have left.
The number of Syrian troops in Lebanon is now 10,000, after the departure of 4,000 over the past week. A Lebanese security source told Reuters the Syrian forces were expected to complete the first phase of a two-stage pullout in the next two or three days.
The presence of Syrian intelligence agents, who have wielded influence over many aspects of life in Lebanon, is generally of more concern to the Lebanese than the troops, whose role has been largely symbolic. The agents' complete withdrawal may prove more difficult to confirm, however.
The controversial former Lebanese prime minister Michel Aoun announced yesterday that he would return from exile "in the next weeks".
Speaking at a news conference in Paris, General Aoun, a Christian who has organised anti-Syrian agitation from France, said he would set his return date after a timetable for a complete Syrian withdrawal was announced.
He said he would go back to Lebanon with Edgar Maalouf and Issam Abu Jamra, who were part of a military government he formed in 1988.
Thank you, President Bush. I can almost hear the air raid sirens going off in Syria.
For a country with a population of only 3.5 million, the scale of recent protests has been unprecedented, raising fears about how long they will remain peaceful.
Could we arrange a World Cup match between Syria and Lebanon? I don't know why, but I think it would be fun to see.
I think I'd rather see a Stanley Cup match, with lots of Lebanese high sticking and body checking.Why not make Hezbullah the hockey puck?
Don't you just love the way the MSM equates the pro-Syrian rallies, in which people were bussed in from Syria, with the home grown anti-Syrian rallies? In the first case, refusing to rally could result in death; in the second, rallying could result in death.
Thousands March Against Syria in Beirut (Biggest Protest To Date)
Typical misreporting by the MSM. Original title should have read million+
You might almost think they have a bias, but of course we all know that's not true.
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