Tens of thousands of Lebanese citizens took to the streets in an anti-Syrian protest — amid reported signs that Syria will soon pull its troops out of parts of the country.
The protest marked one week since the Feb. 14 death of Rafik Hariri and began at the bomb-scarred site of the former prime minister’s assassination, which turned many Lebanese against Syria and increased international pressure on Damascus to extract its army from Lebanon.
Holding aloft red roses and Lebanese flags, the throngs on the streets shouted insults at Syria and demanded the resignation of the pro-Syrian government in a march that began at the seaside site where Hariri and 16 others were killed and ended at his grave in the city center.
This is an interesting story because it shows how an act of assassination turned out to bite the perpetrators on the political butt:
Hariri’s assassination has brought Lebanese together and strengthened the opposition, but it was unclear if the momentum would force a change in government or push the Syrian army out of the country.
As the demonstration was under way in Beirut, Bush issued a strong warning to Syria from Brussels, saying Damascus “must end its occupation of Lebanon.”
In Damascus, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Syrian President Bashar Assad affirmed during a meeting that his country will “soon” take steps to withdraw its army from Lebanese areas in line with a 1989 agreement. It was not clear whether that meant Syria would completely leave Lebanon.
Note to Lebanon and GWB: Don’t believe anything Assad says until the troops are withdrawn. Just look the history:
Syria, which sent its army into Lebanon in 1976 amid the bloody civil war, has always pledged to implement the 1989 accord that ended the conflict, and has redeployed troops several times since 2000. However, a withdrawal to the eastern Bekaa Valley near the border that was scheduled for the early 1990s, followed by an eventual total pullout, has never been carried out.
Justin Delabar notes that Assad is already pooh-poohing hints that he’s going to withdraw troops. Outlook: expect the crisis — and clamor — to continue.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.