Demonstrators led by Hezbollah paralyze central Beirut
BEIRUT -- Thousands of supporters of Lebanon's opposition, led by Hezbollah, paralyzed parts of central Beirut yesterday as the defiant prime minister, Fuad Saniora, won fresh international backing.
Scores of tents sprung up as protesters occupied parking lots, squares, and streets. The rallies brought Beirut's normally bustling commercial district to a standstill.
Restaurants and cafés, usually packed with people on weekends, were shut. Many banks also stayed closed.
"Beirut is free, Saniora out," thousands chanted during a night rally at a central square within earshot of Saniora's office. But Saniora said that going out on the streets would not achieve results. "We won't reach a solution unless we sit around . . . the negotiating table," he told reporters.
Hundreds of thousands of opposition supporters rallied on Friday to demand the resignation of the Western-backed Cabinet.
Saniora got backing from the German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the British foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett. " No one can have an interest in destabilizing this country," Steinmeier said. He also called for a "strong independent Lebanon uninfluenced by outside forces".
Saniora's office also said he received telephone calls from a number of Arab leaders and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in which they gave "their full support."
The Shi'ite Hezbollah, backed by Syria and Shi'ite Iran, wants to topple what it describes as a US government in Lebanon. The anti-Syrian politicians who dominate the Cabinet say the opposition is attempting a coup.
Many Lebanese fear that the situation could spark sectarian violence. Tension between Sunnis and Shi'ites is high, in addition to bad feeling between Christians who support leaders allied to the rival camps.
President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, a Washington ally, called on the opposing sides to exercise "wisdom."
"What I fear is that if the demonstrations continue, and take on a sectarian form, supporters of these sects from outside Lebanon will join in and no one will be able to control it ," Mubarak told journalists in the resort city of Sharm el-Sheik.
Many supporters of Hezbollah and its allies they would stay put until Saniora's government resigned. The sit-in was festive, with protesters dancing to drumbeats, or smoking water pipes.
