Lebanese opposition demands 'independence uprising'
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-19 10:24

Lebanese opposition figures urged Lebanese to join what they called an independence uprising against Syria's grip on Lebanon on Friday, escalating a war of words after former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri's assassination.

Hariri's killing in Beirut on Monday sparked anti-Syrian fury among many Lebanese and renewed world pressure on Damascus to loosen its political grip and remove its troops from Lebanon.

The United States, which this week recalled its ambassador from Damascus in reaction to the bombing, warned Syria it must help investigate the assassination or face the possibility of further sanctions.

Lebanese Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned in another sign of the country's political turbulence, and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad named his brother-in-law, Major-General Asef Shawkat, as head of military intelligence to replace retiring Major-General Hassan Khalil.

Khazen, a Maronite Christian, became the first minister to quit because of the assassination and said he had done so because the Syrian-backed government was unable to "remedy the dangerous situation in the country."

"There is no substitute for national dialogue on the basis of the Taif agreement," he said, referring to the deal that ended a 1975-1990 civil war and committed Syria to moving the troops it keeps in Lebanon to the eastern Bekaa Valley.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and figures from the disparate opposition movement blamed the government and its Syrian backers for Hariri's death and called for its resignation.

They urged Lebanese to back a peaceful "independence uprising" -- the first time they had used the term. It was not immediately clear what form of protest the uprising would take.

Parliament must also suspend all debate unrelated to the assassination, they told a news conference, until the truth about who killed Hariri emerged.

"FREE LEBANON"

"All the Lebanese are with Hariri, a free Lebanon and Syrian withdrawal," Jumblatt told reporters earlier. Hariri moved toward a similar position in the months before his death.

Protesters set fire to the tents of Syrian farm workers near the northern town of Tripoli, the latest attack on Syrians in Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

Traffic jams returned to Beirut streets on Friday after three days of mourning for Hariri, a Sunni Muslim billionaire.

Lebanese of all religious beliefs have flocked to Hariri's grave to bring flowers and light candles since his funeral on Wednesday turned into a mass anti-Syrian street protest.

Several hundred people marched toward the grave on Friday evening shouting independence slogans.

Financial markets were busy but mostly stable on their first trading day since Hariri's death, despite tension and President Bush's latest demand for Syria to pull out its 14,000 troops.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States wanted to force Syria to change its policies, which would help remove the threat of further sanctions.

In May, Washington imposed some economic sanctions including a ban on U.S. exports to Syria other than food and medicine.

"We are not trying to isolate Syria, what we are trying to do is to get Syria to engage in more responsible behavior," Rice told reporters in Washington.

The United States has not blamed Syria for the assassination and Syria has denied involvement.

The United Nations said it had chosen an Irish deputy police commissioner, Peter Fitzgerald, to lead a U.N. team that is to report on the "circumstances, causes and consequences" of Hariri's assassination.

The Lebanese pound closed unchanged but the central bank had to sell dollars, as it had pledged to do, to defend the currency against pressure from jittery investors.

Officials said President Emile Lahoud had finally gone to pay condolences to Hariri's relatives, who had refused to let him attend Wednesday's funeral. He told them he would do all he could to find the killers, a statement from his office said.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
Experts: China to become 'developed country' in 2080         Official: Theatre construction to continue         China, US agree on North Korea nukes         China slams US remarks on military         Shiites in Iraq attacked in five bombings         Death toll in coal mine blast rises to 213	Russia to cooperate on Iran nuke program       Kashmiris wait for bus for hugs across frontier       Indonesia says 2 journalists seized in Iraq       Negroponte selected as US intelligence chief       Iran urges alliance against U.S. plots       Three blasts kill at least 17 in Baghdad