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Thousands rally in Beirut
14/02/2007 14:58 - (SA)
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| Supporters hold Lebanese flags as they climb atop the Martyrs statue during a rally to commemorate the death of former PM Rafik Hariri in Beirut. (Ben Curtis, AP) |
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Beirut - Around 300 000 Lebanese waving flags and blue balloons demonstrated in Beirut on Wednesday to honour Rafik al-Hariri, two years after the ex-premier's killing, and show support for the anti-Syrian government.
Police guarded Hariri's tomb in central Beirut's Martyrs
Square where a digital sign showed 730 - the number of days
that have passed without his assassins being brought to justice.
Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire tycoon with close ties to
Saudi Arabia and France, masterminded Lebanon's reconstruction
after its 1975-90 civil war. He had fallen out with Syria, then
the dominant power in Lebanon, in the months before his death.
"We are today in the hour of truth and the last leg for the
setting up of the international tribunal, which will happen
soon, very soon," Hariri's son Saad told the crowd.
The government and the UN security council have approved
plans to establish the court to try Hariri's killers, over
objections from the Hezbollah-led opposition and from Lebanon's
pro-Syrian president. Parliament's approval is also required.
"We are ready for every courageous decision for the sake of
Lebanon and for the sake of a solution in Lebanon, but the
international tribunal is the only passage for any solution,"
Saad al-Hariri declared from behind a bullet-proof screen.
Syria blamed for killing
Hariri's allies say the opposition is acting on Syrian
orders to oust the government and derail the tribunal.
In fiery speeches, pro-government leaders denounced Syria,
which they blame for the February 14, 2005, suicide bombing that
killed Hariri and for later attacks on anti-Syrian figures.
Describing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as "a monkey, a
snake and a butcher", Druze leader Walid Jumblatt declared: "We
will not surrender to terrorism, to explosive charges, to
totalitarian parties, Syrian and non-Syrian."
Addressing Assad, he said: "This year, the tribunal will
come and with it retribution and the death sentence."
Christian Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea said: "We will
pursue the criminals across the world and to the end of time,"
pledging that Lebanon would resist Syrian influence.
Syria denies involvement in Hariri's assassination, which
triggered international pressure that forced Damascus to
withdraw its troops in 2005 after 29 years in Lebanon.
- Reuters
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