Lebanon cabinet and opposition in siege stand-off
By Marks Cannon,WNS Lebanon Correspondent
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Western-backed cabinet has vowed not to cave in to opposition calls to resign after a massive demonstration led by the pro-Syrian group Hezbollah and as protesters camped outside government offices. Friday's massive show of force in central Beirut tightened the political deadlock in the country which has been in near-paralysis because of a fierce power struggle between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps. Crowds of protesters thronged the streets of the capital on Friday, calling for the ouster of the "corrupt" leadership and temporarily blocking access to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's government headquarters. "The massive demonstration... has given Lebanon one of the most difficult tests that the country has known in a long while," warned the pro-Syrian Al-Akhbar daily on Saturday. The leftist As Safir daily noted that the protest did not contribute to "open any slight door to resolve the political crisis which remains in deadlock". The Siniora government, which has received strong public backing from Western and Arab states, pledged not to bow to the opposition led by the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
"The Syrian-Iranian camp, led by Hezbollah, has begun to implement a plot for a coup" in Lebanon with the demonstration and attempts to besiege the Siniora cabinet, the anti-Syrian al-Mustqabal daily said Saturday. It is owned by the family of former premier Rafiq Hariri whose 2005 murder, blamed on Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies, led to massive street protests that forced Damascus to end its military presence in Lebanon. Parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri, the slain premier's son, vowed late Friday that "the Siniora government will not fall because of pressure from the street. However long they continue their protest, it will not fall." Hezbollah-led demonstrators set up tents and several thousand protesters were still camping early Saturday on at least two main public roads leading to Siniora's offices, after the blockade was eased to allow access from side roads. The demonstrators said they will stay until the government gives in, and threatened to escalate their actions in the coming days. Siniora's government has received strong backing from foreign states, including from Jordanian King Abdullah II and Saudi King Abdullah whose ambassador in Beirut held contacts to help ease the blockade.
US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said Washington denounced "threats of intimidation or violence" which "are aimed at toppling Lebanon's legitimate and democratically elected government". Casey also accused Syria and Iran of instigating the show of force "to destabilize Lebanon". "And certainly with things like the assassination of Pierre Gemayel and other kinds of events, it's clear that there is a pattern of intimidation, and efforts at intimidation, of those forces aligned with Lebanon's democratically elected government," he added. The show of strength by the opposition came after last week's mass funeral for murdered anti-Syrian industry minister Pierre Gemayel which brought hundreds of thousands of government supporters on to the streets. Gemayel was the sixth Syria critic to be assassinated in Lebanon over the past two years.
posted by wnsworld @ 11:47 AM
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