LEBANON:Tens of thousands of pro-Syrian protesters pressed on with a sit-in aimed at ousting Lebanon's western-backed government yesterday as the country's political crisis showed no sign of easing, writes Yara Bayoumyin Beirut
The Shia Muslim group Hizbullah and its allies in the opposition, including some Christians, held a third day of protests at a tent city in central Beirut, within earshot of the office-turned-residence of Fouad Siniora, the prime minister.
"Our one and only demand is a government of national unity," senior pro-Syrian Christian opposition figure Suleiman Franjieh told a jubilant crowd massed at Beirut's Riad al-Solh square.
"We will stay in this square . . . we will not leave until this illegal and unconstitutional government goes."
An anti-government Shia protester was shot dead in a Sunni district of Beirut as he was returning home from the rally, security sources said. They said the young man was gunned down in the Qasqas neighbourhood shortly after Lebanese soldiers intervened and ended a small riot involving Shia protesters and stone-throwers.
Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa arrived in Beirut to meet Lebanese officials, expressing concern and saying Arab countries could not afford to be bystanders in a crisis that developed after Hizbullah's summer war with Israel.
"All of us are worried about the situation in Lebanon," he said.
Although the dispute started out over political differences, it is moving closer to a sectarian crisis as tension between Sunni and Shia Muslims is high and there is ill feeling among Christians, who are divided between the rival camps.
In a sign the protests could disintegrate into violence, a van carrying protesters was stoned as it drove through the Sunni QasQas neighbourhood of Beirut, security sources said.
The army broke up the crowd, but not before the passengers left the vehicle and chased some of the stone throwers.
Government supporters, who held their own mass funeral procession for an assassinated anti-Syrian cabinet minister 12 days ago, stayed away from central Beirut, heeding calls by leaders to avoid street confrontations.
"We will be steadfast, peacefully and democratically. We are here and when they are convinced that there is no solution except through dialogue, then welcome," said anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.
Despite the city centre's paralysed streets, the Beirut marathonwent ahead, with runners using suburban roads to skirt the demonstration.
The opposition, led by Hizbullah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has been demanding effective veto power in the government, whose majority comprises anti-Syrian politicians from Christian, Sunni Muslim and Druze parties.
But these politicians say the opposition only wants to weaken the government and derail a UN tribunal that would try suspects in the 2005 murder of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri.