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March 14, 2005
800,000 Demonstrate Against Syria - Updated
Hundreds of thousands of opposition backers chanted "Freedom, Sovereignty, Independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in central Beirut on Monday, throwing the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of Syria and the Lebanese government.

Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed the roads into Beirut – responding to the opposition call to mark a month since the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri. His slaying sparked a series of protests against Syria, the dominant power in Lebanon.

"We are coming to liberate our country. We are coming to demand the truth," said Fatma Trad, a veiled Sunni Muslim woman who traveled from the remote region of Dinniyeh in northern Lebanon to take part.

The protest easily exceeded the pro-government rally of some 500,000, held last week by Hizbullah. That show of strength forced the opposition to act to regain its momentum.

Read more...

  • 'We are coming to free our country and demand the truth'

    "Now son, hold your flag high and straight, don't let the wind drop it off," said Najib Bazzi, 85, while adjusting his young grandson's flag posture. The old man, proudly carrying the little boy on his still robust shoulders, said: "If loyalty has to be captured in human actions, then this should be it."
"I have gone through the first independence in 1943," Bazzi said. "But let me tell you something; if this works out, then this would be the only true independence that I will carry with me to the grave."

From Claudia Rosett:

Lebanese Staging Rallies Demanding 'the Truth' Behind Hariri Murder:

With a crucial democratic protest planned for today, members of Lebanon's opposition held a vigil last evening, setting out candles across a big swathe of downtown Martyrs' Square to spell out in letters of flame, in Arabic and English, what they are seeking: "The Truth."

These demonstrators want the truth about who was behind the bomb blast that on February 14 killed Rafik Hariri, Lebanon's former prime minister. Today's protest will mark the four-week anniversary of his murder, which ignited Lebanon's democratic uprising. The turnout will be closely watched worldwide, seen as the democratic opposition's rejoinder to two rallies staged this past week by the terrorist group Hezbollah, which has now hitched its wagon - or, some fear, its rocket launchers - to the Cedar Revolution.

Posted by Michele at March 14, 2005 06:21 PM | TrackBack
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