Syria says it is willing to withdraw its troops from neighbouring Lebanon, after fifteen years of effective military occupation.
Amr Mussa, the head of the Arab League, said that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian President, had assured him this morning that Syria was prepared to fulfil its obligations in the Taef accords that ended Lebanon’s civil war in 1995.
Syria’s change in stance, after ignoring years of international diplomatic pressure, comes as the Lebanese people themselves turn on their Syrian occupiers, blaming them for the assassination last week of their former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
“During our meeting, President Assad expressed his firm desire, more than once, to continue implementing the Taef accord and to withdraw from Lebanon in keeping with this agreement,” Mussa said after talks with Assad in Damascus.
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“The Taef and withdrawal (from Lebanon) are part of Syrian policy. Steps in these matters will be taken shortly,” Mussa added.
The Taef Accord which ended Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war called for Syria to start redeployments from Lebanon within two years of the conflict’s finish, but 14,000 Syrian troops are still stationed in key positions despite a number of partial withdrawals.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese opposition supporters took to the streets today, shouting insults at Syria and demanding the resignation of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian government.
The demonstration in central Beirut marks a week since Mr Hariri’s murder in a massive car bomb attack on his motorcade. At least 15 other people died in the bombing, including seven of Mr Hariri’s bodyguards, and more than 100 were injured.
Beating drums and waving Lebanese flags, those of their own parties and portraits of past leaders assassinated during the 1975-90 civil war, the protesters gathered at the site where Hariri was killed on February 14.
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“Syria out!” “We don’t want a parliament that acts as a doorkeeper for the Syrians,” some yelled, competing with loud insults shouted against President Assad.
The protesters wore scarves of red and white, the colors of Lebanon’s flag, which have become the symbol of the opposition’s “independence uprising,” described as a peaceful campaign to dislodge the pro-Syrian government and force the Syrian army out of Lebanon. Each demonstrator was also handed a red rose by organizers from student groups and opposition parties.
Some carried banners reading, “Independence,” and chanted, “The government of puppets must fall” and “Enough blood, leave us alone”.
“It is my civic duty as a Lebanese to take part in this uprising,” said Youssef Mukhtar, a 47-year-old engineer who was shouting along with the crowd. “Enough bloodshed and disasters. It is the 21st century, and people should be able to govern themselves. The situation has become unbearable and we have to regain our country.”
Many held pictures of Hariri and sang patriotic songs as they passed through rows of troops on both sides of the route. Some protesters held a copy of the Quran in one hand and the cross in another hand to signify Muslim-Christian national unity.
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Gun-toting policemen and army troops in full battle gear stood guard without intervening, blocking roads with metal barriers. In an apparent attempt to prevent more potential protesters from reaching Beirut, security forces set up checkpoints on the northern and eastern entrances to the Lebanese capital, causing delays and reducing morning traffic to a trickle.
The protest reached its peak at 12.55 pm (10.55am GMT), the time that Mr Hariri’s motorcade was blown up.
The protesters, chanting “All for the Nation,” the national anthem, observed a moment of silence at the exact time of the bombing and then began converging on the UN offices in the centre of town to hand a letter addressed to Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General.
On the way, the protesters marched by the nearby Grand Serail, the prime minister’s office, shouting “Syria out!” and “We don’t want an army in Lebanon except that of Lebanon!”
Protesters also taunted a long motorcade of vehicles that left the Prime Ministry but made no attempt to break the heavy cordon of soldiers and policemen. It was not clear whether Prime Minister Omar Karami was in the motorcade.
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The protesters then marched to Hariri’s grave outside the Mohammed Al-Amin Mosque at the central Martyrs’ Square and sang the national anthem. “We want the truth,” said one speaker who addressed the crowd at the square, which has become a pilgrimage site for anti-Syrian activists.
At the same time the Beirut protest was making its way to the grave, about 500 Lebanese in Kuwait gathered near their country’s embassy, where they stood for a moment’s silence in front of a large poster of Hariri. They then sang the national anthem and called out “Freedom, sovereignty, independence!�� and repeated anti-Syria slogans.
“What we want is an international committee to uncover the truth,” said Marwan Jamal, a business consultant, 39. “Nobody should think we are divided.”
Before Beirut’s demonstration, about 30 opposition lawmakers wearing the white and red scarves stood on the steps of the Parliament building in downtown Beirut to protest at an attempt by the legislature to hold a session to discuss law for elections set for April and May. The opposition has said it will refuse to participate in any parliamentary activity before a special session is held to discuss the assassination.
They met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who agreed to their demand and postponed the debate.
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“It is shameful that the Parliament meets without debating this horrible act,” said Nayla Mouawad, a legislator whose husband, President Rene Mouawad, was killed in a 1989 bomb blast.