Upping the Stakes

The pro-democracy opposition in Lebanon is not going to fade away.

Facing nearly unanimous international opposition to continued Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and unable to use his military forces against democracy demonstrators [because of that big honkin' US army sitting right next door], Syrian strongman Bashar Assad has sought desperately to find some instrument by which he can maintain his control.

He has denounced the anti-Syrian democracy forces as tools of the US and Israel and has dragged his feet on withdrawing Syrian troops and intelligence services from Lebanon.

He has forged an alliance with the Shiite terrorist organization, Hizbollah, which last week launched a massive demonstration to denounce US and Zionist interference in Lebanese affairs and to thank Syria for maintaining order in Lebanon. Many western observers put a hopeful spin on this situation, claiming that all Hizbollah was doing was to claim a right to participate in a future Lebanese government. That, however, seems to be just wishful thinking. Hizbollah was clearly trying to intimidate the democratic opposition into accepting continued Syrian occupation.

At the same time Assad has tried to manipulate the existing Lebanese regime to undermine the democracy opposition. When protests first broke out Lebanese Premier Omar Karami, a Syrian stooge, resigned his office, but was soon reappointed [he is now officially the "premier designate"]. Recently he has reached out to the opposition trying to entice them into accepting the partial, mostly cosmetic, concessions made by Assad.

The democratic opposition is having none of it. Neither has the west. President Bush has reiterated his demand that Syria withdraw completely from Lebanon rather than simply repositioning his military and intelligence services. The European Parliament, in a stunning rebuke, has branded Hizbollah a terrorist organization, a move that threatens to cut off their major sources of funding. The opposition has refused to make any deals with Assad or Karami and, in response to Hizbolla's mass demonstration of last week has staged an ever bigger counter-demonstration today.

AP reports on the democratic demonstration:

Opposition launches protest in Beirut

BEIRUT (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of opposition demonstrators chanted "Freedom, sovereignty, independence" and unfurled a huge Lebanese flag in Beirut on Monday, the biggest protest yet in the opposition's duel of street rallies with supporters of the Damascus-backed government.

Crowds of men, women and children flooded Martyrs Square, spilling over into nearby streets, while more from across the country packed the roads into Beirut — responding to an opposition call to demonstrate for the removal of Syrian troops from Lebanon....

Monday's protest easily topped a pro-government rally of hundreds of thousands of people last week by the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah. That show of strength forced the opposition to try to regain its momentum....

A line of people in the square carried a 100-yard-long white-and-red Lebanese flag with the distinct green cedar tree in the middle, shaking it up and down and shouting, "Syria out." Protesters sang the national anthem. Others chanted "Truth, freedom, national unity," or "We want only the Lebanese army in Lebanon."

"Syria out, no half measures," read a banner, borrowing from President Bush's description of Damascus' gradual withdrawal from this country of 3.5 million.

In addition to packing Martyrs Square, thousands of other protesters spilled into the nearby Riad Solh Square and outlying streets. There was no official count of Monday's crowd, but it appeared to reporters on the scene to be easily bigger than last week's pro-government, anti-U.S. rally called by Hezbollah, which was estimated by The Associated Press at 500,000 people.

Meanwhile international organizations have kept up the pressure on Assad. UN envoys have been meeting with Assad and pressing him for a detailed timetable for full withdrawal.

And, an encouraging sign, many Lebanese exiles are beginning to return to their homeland, including one former Premier and the former head of the Lebanese army.

Read the whole thing here.

The Times reports:

Syria's military withdrawal continued today, with about 50 intelligence agents closing two offices in northern Lebanon: in the town of Amyoun and in Deir Ammar on the coastal road linking the port city of Tripoli with the Syrian border, residents said.

Most intelligence offices, the widely resented arm through which Syria has controlled many aspects of Lebanese life, remained in northern and central Lebanon after Syrian troops moved east, closer to the Syrian border.

Read the article here.

Also, The Australian reports:

A UN investigation into the death of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri will report that Lebanese and Syrian authorities are behind a cover-up of evidence from the February 14 blast, The Independent newspaper said today."

The UN investigators have become convinced that there was a cover-up of evidence at the very highest levels of the Lebanese and Syrian intelligence authorities," the British daily said.

Veteran Middle East correspondent Robert Fisk, based in Beirut, quoted no sources for his report but said members of Mr Hariri's family had been warned the UN report on the death would be "devastating".

Typical UN sillyness. While real confrontations are going on in Lebanon and the world community has united to condemn Syria, the UN issues a "devastating" report, that simply states what everyone already knew, as if that mattered.