Lebanon's Syrian-backed government has resigned

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Lebanese government resigns amid protests
Reuters
March 01, 2005
BEIRUT: Lebanon's Syrian-backed government has resigned in a surprise decision greeted with jubilation by thousands of protesters in central Beirut gathering to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops.

Prime Minister Omar Karami's government came under unprecedented pressure after the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Protesters turned their sights on the president and demanded he also step down.

"The people have won," main opposition leader Walid Jumblatt told LBC television after Karami announced the resignation of the cabinet to a parliament session debating Hariri's killing.

Ecstatic protesters, having got their wish for the government's resignation, chanted "Syria out" and "Freedom, sovereignty, independence." Syria has wielded political and military power in its smaller neighbor for decades.

They also chanted "Lahoud, you're turn is next," in reference to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

Martyrs Square, by Hariri's grave, was a sea of Lebanese flags -- red and white with a cedar tree in the center.

Thousands of protesters watched the debate live on large screens while loudspeakers blared patriotic songs.

Cheers and applause erupted when Karami resigned. In parliament, opposition MPs wearing the red-and-white scarves that have come to symbolize their movement, gave a standing ovation.

"Out of concern that the government does not become an obstacle to the good of the country, I announce the resignation of the government I had the honor to lead," Karami said.

A 22-year-old Karami supporter was shot dead as supporters of the prime minister rioted in his home town of Tripoli, firing assault rifles in the air and burning tires and photographs of Hariri, witnesses and hospital sources said a

Karami's government had a majority and was expected to win a no-confidence vote that was to close the debate on the killing that brought back memories of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war.

But peaceful protests against the government and its Syrian backers were unprecedented in their scale and scope.

On Monday, banks, schools and businesses closed in a general strike the opposition called to coincide with the debate. A government ban on protests escalated the tension, but thousands defied it, some by camping out overnight in central Beirut.

Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers with assault rifles had fanned out in downtown Beirut and barred roads to the protest scene and to parliament with metal barricades and barbed wire. But protesters who pushed through met little resistance.

A Syrian official source said the resignation was a Lebanese "internal affair."

White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters the event "represents an opportunity for the Lebanese people to have a government that is truly representative of their country's diversity."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told an Italian newspaper a total withdrawal of his country's 14,000 troops from Lebanon, would be linked to peace with arch-foe Israel and was not therefore imminent.

"From a technical viewpoint, the repatriation (of Syrian forces) could happen within the end of the year. But from a strategic viewpoint it will only happen if we get serious guarantees. In a word, peace," Assad said.

Jumblatt offered an olive branch, appealing for calm and calling for a national unity government including opposition figures to lead in the runup to May parliamentary elections.

"I believe the main aim was to bring down the government. We achieved this. Today we are at a new crossroads in the history of the country ... we have entered a stage where there must be calm," he said.

Opponents of Syria's presence just wanted it to implement the Taif Accord that ended the civil war, Jumblatt told CNN.

"I think we should now enter into serious negotiations with the Syrians according to the Taif agreement which implies honorable withdrawal from Lebanon," he said.

Taif required that Syrian troops redeploy to eastern Lebanon then withdrawal would be negotiated. "The battle is long, and this is the first step, this is the battle for freedom, sovereignty and independence," opposition MP Ghattas Khouri told the crowd.

Opposition MPs and many ordinary Lebanese hold Damascus and Beirut responsible for the deaths of Hariri and 17 others when a bomb blew apart his motorcade two weeks ago to the day.

Assad again denied Syria had a hand in the bombing in the interview with la Repubblica newspaper. "For us it would be like political suicide," he said.

"The time has come for the Lebanese people to be able to face their own decisions," US Deputy Secretary of State David Satterfield, in Beirut for four days, said earlier on Monday.