Beirut shows its colours
2005-03-12 19:17
Beirut - More than 10 00O people holding coloured pieces of cardboard formed a huge Lebanese flag on Saturday in another spirited tribute to slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.
Participants, young and old, women in headscarves and those with hair flying in the wind, gathered in Martyrs Square where Hariri and his seven bodyguards killed in a February 14 bomb attack are buried.
Their 3 800-square-metre flag was formed by cardboard pieces that on one side were in the Lebanese colours - red, white and green - and black on the reverse side.
When a speaker addressing the crowd made reference, for example, to Lebanese MPs said to be in the pay of foreign powers, pieces were flipped and the flag turned black.
The flag returned to its normal colours on a call for light to be shed on Hariri's killing, which many Lebanese suspect was the work of Syria. Syrian authorities, who have troops stationed in Lebanon, have strongly denied involvement.
The assassination has intensified demands for a Syrian military withdrawal and spawned a tent city in Martyrs Square of young militants pressing for an end to Syria's influence in Lebanon.
Organisers of Saturday's event said hundreds of groups had answered a call put out by a movement known as Wave of the Future.
The crowd dispersed shouting "Syria Out" and "Liberty, sovereignty, independence."
- AFP