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With shouts of "Syria out!," more than 25,000 flag-waving protesters massed outside Parliament today in a dramatic display of defiance that swept out Lebanon's pro-Syrian government two weeks after the assassination of a former prime minister.
Cheering broke out among the demonstrators in Martyrs' Square when they heard Prime Minister Omar Karami's announcement on loudspeakers that the government was stepping down. Throughout the day, protesters handed out red roses to soldiers and police.
Many in Lebanon accuse Syria and Karami's government of being behind former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Feb. 14 slaying and the death of 16 others in a huge bombing, pressing hard in the two weeks since his death for the government to resign and for Syria to withdraw its roughly 15,000 troops positioned in Lebanon.
"We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!" protesters chanted, climbing the martyrs' statue and praying before candles at Hariri's flower-covered grave, which lies at the piazza's edge.
Karami's Cabinet will continue as a caretaker government. The next step is for the president to appoint a prime minister after consulting with parliament members. The new prime minister consults parliamentary blocs to form a Cabinet that must withstand a parliamentary vote of confidence.
Karami replaced the billionaire Hariri, credited with playing a key role in rebuilding Lebanon after its devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
"Today the government fell. Tomorrow, it's the one huddled in Anjar," opposition leader Elias Atallah told the crowd to cheers, referring to the Syrian intelligence chief based in the eastern Lebanese town of Anjar. He said the opposition will continue its actions until all demands are met.
The protesters went further, immediately shouting for the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
"Lahoud, your turn is coming!" they said.
Others in the sea of red, white and green flags chanted, "Syria Out!" and "Freedom, sovereignty, independence!"
The protest continued after nightfall, complete with images broadcast on a large video screen, a scene that recalled anti-government protests in Ukraine late last year. Banners proclaimed in English: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall."
Lahoud's six-year term was renewed in September by Parliament, under apparent Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned further terms. A U.N. resolution demanded Lebanon hold presidential elections, Syrian troops pull out of Lebanon and Syria stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.
"The battle is not over. It is just beginning. We want to know who killed Prime Minister Hariri," opposition legislator Faris Saeed said, addressing the crowd.
The crowd, some flashing "V for victory" signs, responded loudly and in unison: "Syria! Syria!"
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published today that a Syrian troop withdrawal depended on achieving peace in the Middle East.
"Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year," Assad told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace."
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield met Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud today to reiterate Washington's demand for a withdrawal of Syrian forces, which came to Lebanon ostensibly as peacekeepers during the civil war.
Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh had banned all protests today on grounds of "supreme national interests." The security forces cordoned off Martyr's Square early in the morning, but they made no serious effort to disperse the demonstrators, many of whom had slept in the square.
Some soldiers and police even sympathized with the protesters and were seen advising newcomers on how to evade the cordon.
During the parliament session, legislators stopped their debate and stood for a moment of silence at 12:55 p.m., the exact time Hariri died two weeks earlier. Hariri's sister, legislator Bahiya Hariri, addressed the parliament in black and called on the government to resign.
"All the Lebanese want to know their enemy, the enemy of Lebanon who killed the martyr Rafik Hariri, those who took the decision, planned and executed it, those who ignored and prevented the truth from coming out," Bahiya Hariri said, holding back tears.
Cheering broke out among the demonstrators in Martyrs' Square when they heard Prime Minister Omar Karami's announcement on loudspeakers that the government was stepping down. Throughout the day, protesters handed out red roses to soldiers and police.
Many in Lebanon accuse Syria and Karami's government of being behind former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's Feb. 14 slaying and the death of 16 others in a huge bombing, pressing hard in the two weeks since his death for the government to resign and for Syria to withdraw its roughly 15,000 troops positioned in Lebanon.
"We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!" protesters chanted, climbing the martyrs' statue and praying before candles at Hariri's flower-covered grave, which lies at the piazza's edge.
Karami's Cabinet will continue as a caretaker government. The next step is for the president to appoint a prime minister after consulting with parliament members. The new prime minister consults parliamentary blocs to form a Cabinet that must withstand a parliamentary vote of confidence.
Karami replaced the billionaire Hariri, credited with playing a key role in rebuilding Lebanon after its devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
"Today the government fell. Tomorrow, it's the one huddled in Anjar," opposition leader Elias Atallah told the crowd to cheers, referring to the Syrian intelligence chief based in the eastern Lebanese town of Anjar. He said the opposition will continue its actions until all demands are met.
The protesters went further, immediately shouting for the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
"Lahoud, your turn is coming!" they said.
Others in the sea of red, white and green flags chanted, "Syria Out!" and "Freedom, sovereignty, independence!"
The protest continued after nightfall, complete with images broadcast on a large video screen, a scene that recalled anti-government protests in Ukraine late last year. Banners proclaimed in English: "United We Stand, Divided We Fall."
Lahoud's six-year term was renewed in September by Parliament, under apparent Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned further terms. A U.N. resolution demanded Lebanon hold presidential elections, Syrian troops pull out of Lebanon and Syria stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.
"The battle is not over. It is just beginning. We want to know who killed Prime Minister Hariri," opposition legislator Faris Saeed said, addressing the crowd.
The crowd, some flashing "V for victory" signs, responded loudly and in unison: "Syria! Syria!"
Syrian President Bashar Assad said in remarks published today that a Syrian troop withdrawal depended on achieving peace in the Middle East.
"Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year," Assad told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace."
U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State David Satterfield met Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud today to reiterate Washington's demand for a withdrawal of Syrian forces, which came to Lebanon ostensibly as peacekeepers during the civil war.
Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh had banned all protests today on grounds of "supreme national interests." The security forces cordoned off Martyr's Square early in the morning, but they made no serious effort to disperse the demonstrators, many of whom had slept in the square.
Some soldiers and police even sympathized with the protesters and were seen advising newcomers on how to evade the cordon.
During the parliament session, legislators stopped their debate and stood for a moment of silence at 12:55 p.m., the exact time Hariri died two weeks earlier. Hariri's sister, legislator Bahiya Hariri, addressed the parliament in black and called on the government to resign.
"All the Lebanese want to know their enemy, the enemy of Lebanon who killed the martyr Rafik Hariri, those who took the decision, planned and executed it, those who ignored and prevented the truth from coming out," Bahiya Hariri said, holding back tears.
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