Syrian-backed Hizbollah rallies against U.S.
Syrian-backed Hizbollah rallies against U.S.
13 Mar 2005 18:31:23 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Kamel Jaber
NABATIYEH, Lebanon, March 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for a Hizbollah rally against the United States on Sunday, even as a U.N. envoy met the Lebanese president to press demands for a Syrian pullout.
Washington, leading the calls for Syria to withdraw its forces from the country, said it welcomed promises by Damascus to do so but wanted to see deeds and not just words.
Hizbollah's demonstration demanded an end to "foreign intervention" but was clearly aimed at the United States and Israel, not Syria.
"America out!" yelled supporters of the Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group at the rally in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, mocking the chants of "Syria out" made by protesters in central Beirut in recent weeks.
It was the second time in a week the Hizbollah guerrilla group, Lebanon's most powerful political organisation and the only one with weapons, had flexed its muscles.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in central Beirut on Tuesday to support Hizbollah's right to bear arms and to thank Syria for its role in Lebanon, where Damascus has kept troops since intervening in the country's civil war in 1976.
Many placards at the Sunday rally read "No to foreign intervention". The crowd, waving Lebanese flags, chanted "Death to America, death to Israel" at the rally organised by Hizbollah and the smaller Shi'ite Amal party.
U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen met President Emile Lahoud and other officials on Sunday to discuss implementing United Nations resolution 1559, which calls for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disarming of all militias.
Roed-Larsen said his talks with Lahoud on the U.N. resolution were "constructive" and they had agreed that elections, expected in May, had to go ahead on time.
Political tensions over Syria's role in Lebanon had stirred talk of a postponement.
Roed-Larsen last visited Lebanon and Syria days before the Feb. 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which sparked daily protests in Beirut against the Syrians and redoubled global pressure for the Syrians to leave.
Roed-Larsen said on Saturday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had promised to withdraw all his troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon in line with the resolution.
He said he would present U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with more details of a timetable for a complete Syrian pullout from Lebanon when he arrives in New York early next week.
Assad said last week Syria would withdraw its troops from Lebanon in two phases, first pulling back to eastern Lebanon, then agreeing with the Lebanese on how long any should stay.
Washington cautiously welcomed Assad's promise to the U.N. envoy. It has previously demanded Syria's immediate withdrawal.
"Initial reports are encouraging," White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley told U.S. Fox television on Sunday. "In the end of the day, it's going to be deeds, not words, that matter."
Hizbollah, the main guerrilla group which fought Israeli occupation of Lebanon's south, was allowed to keep its arms when militias were disarmed after the war. It claimed credit for driving Israeli forces out after in 2000.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud told reporters Lebanon's leaders had told Roed-Larsen they rejected the part of 1559 calling for militias in Lebanon to be disarmed.
"We said to him: We don't have any militias, we have a resistance that is supported by all the Lebanese people," he said.
Protesters, who were mostly Shi'ites but were joined by some Druze and others, came from across southern Lebanon to support Hizbollah's armed "Islamic resistance", witnesses said.
Some burned Israeli and U.S. flags. "Resolution 1559 was made in Israel," one placard read.
Some protesters held up Lebanese identity cards so that no one could say they had been bussed in from Syria, as some media reported happened at last week's Hizbollah rally in Beirut.
Lebanon's opposition movement plans to hold a big demonstration in central Beirut on Monday, a month to the day since Hariri was killed. They demand an international investigation into his assassination, a full Syrian withdrawal and the resignation of Syrian-backed security chiefs.
A few thousand protesters held a candlelit vigil in Beirut's central Martyrs Square on Sunday evening. Hundreds of flickering flames formed the word "Truth".
Syrian troops left their posts in Mount Lebanon, northeast of Beirut, as Lebanese soldiers stood by to take over. All Syrian soldiers have now left northern Lebanon, ending an unbroken 29-year presence.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1384634.htm
13 Mar 2005 18:31:23 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Kamel Jaber
NABATIYEH, Lebanon, March 13 (Reuters) - Hundreds of thousands of people turned out for a Hizbollah rally against the United States on Sunday, even as a U.N. envoy met the Lebanese president to press demands for a Syrian pullout.
Washington, leading the calls for Syria to withdraw its forces from the country, said it welcomed promises by Damascus to do so but wanted to see deeds and not just words.
Hizbollah's demonstration demanded an end to "foreign intervention" but was clearly aimed at the United States and Israel, not Syria.
"America out!" yelled supporters of the Syrian-backed Shi'ite Muslim group at the rally in the southern town of Nabatiyeh, mocking the chants of "Syria out" made by protesters in central Beirut in recent weeks.
It was the second time in a week the Hizbollah guerrilla group, Lebanon's most powerful political organisation and the only one with weapons, had flexed its muscles.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in central Beirut on Tuesday to support Hizbollah's right to bear arms and to thank Syria for its role in Lebanon, where Damascus has kept troops since intervening in the country's civil war in 1976.
Many placards at the Sunday rally read "No to foreign intervention". The crowd, waving Lebanese flags, chanted "Death to America, death to Israel" at the rally organised by Hizbollah and the smaller Shi'ite Amal party.
U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen met President Emile Lahoud and other officials on Sunday to discuss implementing United Nations resolution 1559, which calls for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and the disarming of all militias.
Roed-Larsen said his talks with Lahoud on the U.N. resolution were "constructive" and they had agreed that elections, expected in May, had to go ahead on time.
Political tensions over Syria's role in Lebanon had stirred talk of a postponement.
Roed-Larsen last visited Lebanon and Syria days before the Feb. 14 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, which sparked daily protests in Beirut against the Syrians and redoubled global pressure for the Syrians to leave.
Roed-Larsen said on Saturday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had promised to withdraw all his troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon in line with the resolution.
He said he would present U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with more details of a timetable for a complete Syrian pullout from Lebanon when he arrives in New York early next week.
Assad said last week Syria would withdraw its troops from Lebanon in two phases, first pulling back to eastern Lebanon, then agreeing with the Lebanese on how long any should stay.
Washington cautiously welcomed Assad's promise to the U.N. envoy. It has previously demanded Syria's immediate withdrawal.
"Initial reports are encouraging," White House national security adviser Stephen Hadley told U.S. Fox television on Sunday. "In the end of the day, it's going to be deeds, not words, that matter."
Hizbollah, the main guerrilla group which fought Israeli occupation of Lebanon's south, was allowed to keep its arms when militias were disarmed after the war. It claimed credit for driving Israeli forces out after in 2000.
Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud told reporters Lebanon's leaders had told Roed-Larsen they rejected the part of 1559 calling for militias in Lebanon to be disarmed.
"We said to him: We don't have any militias, we have a resistance that is supported by all the Lebanese people," he said.
Protesters, who were mostly Shi'ites but were joined by some Druze and others, came from across southern Lebanon to support Hizbollah's armed "Islamic resistance", witnesses said.
Some burned Israeli and U.S. flags. "Resolution 1559 was made in Israel," one placard read.
Some protesters held up Lebanese identity cards so that no one could say they had been bussed in from Syria, as some media reported happened at last week's Hizbollah rally in Beirut.
Lebanon's opposition movement plans to hold a big demonstration in central Beirut on Monday, a month to the day since Hariri was killed. They demand an international investigation into his assassination, a full Syrian withdrawal and the resignation of Syrian-backed security chiefs.
A few thousand protesters held a candlelit vigil in Beirut's central Martyrs Square on Sunday evening. Hundreds of flickering flames formed the word "Truth".
Syrian troops left their posts in Mount Lebanon, northeast of Beirut, as Lebanese soldiers stood by to take over. All Syrian soldiers have now left northern Lebanon, ending an unbroken 29-year presence.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L1384634.htm
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