Beirut was on high alert on Friday as hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators, led by the pro-Syrian militant group Hezbollah, staged a massive show of force aimed at pressing the Western-backed government to resign.
Lebanese troops and armoured vehicles were heavily deployed in the capital as hordes of protesters packed streets and surrounded the offices of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.
Siniora, who heads a government backed by an anti-Syrian Parliament majority elected in 2005, a day earlier vowed not to cave in to pressure from the opposition, which is made up of various factions including Shi’ites and Christians.
In a capital that has been the scene of previous protests involving hundreds of thousands of pro- and anti-Syrian demonstrators, organisers called for “all Lebanese” to take part in the protest, to be followed by an open-ended sit-in.
“Out, out Siniora!” protesters shouted as the streets filled with people waving Lebanese flags and chanting patriotic slogans.
“We have had enough ordeals and tears,” they chanted. “Siniora, out! We want a free government. We want a government that will feed our hunger.”
Army troops and dozens of armoured vehicles were heavily deployed around government offices in central Beirut, and barbed wire reaching nearly 2m high encircled the premises.
Earlier in the day, Druze chief and prominent anti-Syrian MP Walid Jumblatt denounced the impending protest and called for his supporters to stay calm.
“This is an attempted coup but we will remain strong,” he told reporters.
Organisers pledged that the event would be peaceful and Hezbollah deployed thousands of its own “discipline men”, who maintained tight crowd control and took up positions between army forces and protesters.
The Lebanese military has instructions to maintain order and not take sides in the protest.
“An attempt at a coup begins today [Friday],” said the pro-government daily al-Mustaqbal.
The pro-Syrian Ad-Diyar proclaimed: “The moment of truth is upon us”.
The planned demonstration is the latest by the opposition to push for a national-unity government.
As well as the Shi’ite Hezbollah, the opposition includes the Shi’ite Amal party of Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, the Christian faction of former prime minister Michel Aoun and supporters of the Syrian-backed president.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, whose political stock rose sharply after the resistance put up by his movement’s fighters to Israel’s devastating July-August offensive, has called for a massive turnout.
“We appeal to all Lebanese, from every region and political movement, to take part in a peaceful and civilised demonstration on Friday to rid us of an incapable government that has failed in its mission,” he said in a television broadcast greeted with shots in the air in parts of the capital.
Siniora also went on television to vow late on Thursday that his Cabinet would not be cowed. It would fight the return of any foreign tutelage on the country, he said, in an apparent reference to Syria’s decades-long military domination which ended in April 2005.
“The government of the independence … will continue to defend freedom and the democratic regime, which are being targeted,” he said.
“We will not allow any coup against our democratic regime,” he added.
Tents, food, medical supplies and electrical generators were being distributed for the sit-in as many were expected to dig in for a long haul.
“We cannot reveal details of what is going to happen next,” said one Hezbollah organiser, declining to be named.
“All we can say is that there will be speeches. There will be a permanent sit-in afterward. Some people will start putting up tents on the two main squares.”
Jumblatt said: “We will stay home, we will hang the Lebanese flags … and when they will decide to return to dialogue, we will welcome that,” Jumblatt said.
Last year, a massive show of street power after the February assassination of five-time premier and Damascus critic Rafiq Hariri led to Syria withdrawing its troops from Lebanon.
Lebanon’s feuding pro- and anti-Syrian factions have reached a dangerous deadlock that threatens to paralyse all state institutions. Tensions escalated after the street assassination last month of anti-Syrian industry minister Pierre Gemayel. — AFP