Al-Hariri's assassination has galvanised and strengthened anti-Syrian opposition in Lebanon, Mohalhel Fakih reports from Beirut The assassination of former prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri in Beirut has given rise to an anti-Syrian independence uprising. It has effectively united a traditionally fractious society behind the ranks of the opposition, to the extent that pro-Syrian Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri saw himself forced to schedule a debate on the murder, one that could potentially lead to a vote of no- confidence in the Syrian-backed Lebanese government. Under the weight of massive, thunderous protests and growing international pressure, Damascus has pledged to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in line with the Taif Accords. Syria and the Lebanese government have also accepted that a United Nations inquiry be conducted into the late former premier's assassination. "We can't stand you Syria!" shouted thousands of Lebanese at the scene of last Monday's car bombing that killed the popular Al-Hariri and at least 17 others, including his bodyguards. His ally Bassil Fuleihan, MP, was among the over 100 people injured in the attack that targeted Al-Hariri's motorcade in the city centre, an area which the former premier famously helped rebuild following the 1975-1990 civil war. Fuleihan was in critical condition this week. "We succeeded in our calls for a general session to discuss the circumstances of [the death of] the martyr Rafiq Al-Hariri, and new deputies have also joined the opposition," Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt, MP, told reporters at his home in Mukhtara town in Mount Lebanon. Jumblatt has been leading an effective opposition campaign -- alongside various Christian and Muslim leaders and political factions -- in a rare show of unity in this country, to force a Syrian pullout. The so- called Bristol Gathering has accused Syria of running a puppet regime in Beirut. It has also made it clear that it will only accept calls for dialogue with Syrian-backed figures if the current government steps down and if a new national unity cabinet is formed to oversee "free and transparent" legislative elections in May. On Monday some 150,000 youths, mainly students and activists, converged on the heart of downtown Beirut, which they dubbed "independence uprising square", and staged a peaceful but loud demonstration shouting anti-Syrian slogans and carrying portraits of the assassinated former premier, who had been coming ever closer to the ranks of the opposition before his murder. The tomb of Al-Hariri, who for many was the "father" of this tiny nation's post-war legacy, is now a pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of Lebanese who are rallying behind an emboldened opposition, demanding an international probe into his assassination, which they squarely blame on Syria. They also seek the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and the Syrian-backed government of Prime Minister Omar Karameh. They are relentlessly pushing for a withdrawal of Syria's 14,000 soldiers and its pervasive intelligence units from across Lebanon. After initially playing down opposition calls for a general parliamentary session to publicly discuss the government's handling of Al-Hariri's assassination, Berri succumbed to the opposition, which constitutes about one-third of the current parliament. He called for the assembly to be held on Monday. It will be attended by Karameh and will be broadcast live on television. The opposition had bungled a parliamentary session aimed at discussing an electoral law bill for upcoming legislative elections in the spring. They vowed to disrupt any meeting before the "truth" behind Al-Hariri's assassination is known. "A team of inquiry, which does not yet constitute an investigation, will be here this week led by senior Irish Deputy Police Commission Peter Fitzgerald. They will report to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the assassination in a timely manner. In turn he will report to the Security Council in line with a presidential statement," a well-informed diplomatic source told Al-Ahram Weekly in Beirut. Initially Lebanon had been resisting a full international probe. "This issue was proposed by the opposition and we did not agree to that," Defence Minister Abdel-Rahim Mrad had said. He insisted that Lebanon's judicial system was transparent enough to carry out an investigation with the support of Swiss DNA experts. But the opposition ruled out the accuracy of such a probe, citing the government's failure to reveal the identity of those behind a similar car bombing that killed the bodyguard of opposition Marwan Hamadeh, MP; the leader himself narrowly survived the attack. Hamadeh and the opposition have accused Syrian and Lebanese intelligence units of masterminding that blast. Faced with domestic and international pressure, Berri said: "Revealing the circumstances of this crime is our number one priority, not just because it is a national duty but also because it calms people's spirits and ends false accusations being made." Syria has denied any involvement in Al-Hariri's assassination and has accused Israel instead of murdering the former Lebanese premier. Diplomatic sources in Beirut told the Weekly the UN team's inquiry is "very significant because its terms are binding", and pointed out, without further explanation, that "it will be followed by other steps." The unequivocally pro-Syrian regime in Beirut had been growing increasingly isolated both among its own people and abroad. Al- Hariri's assassination not only drew immediate charges of complicity by the state but erupted anti-Syrian resentment out to the open. Tens of thousands of Lebanese have effectively taken over the city centre, with day and night protests, boosted by the opposition. Christian nuns and Muslim clerics praying side by side at Al-Hariri's tomb have now become a common scene. Church bells and mosque calls for prayers have been erupting from every corner during anti-Syrian rallies. Immediately after Al-Hariri's assassination, Beirut's streets were swarmed by protesters who broke all previous taboos by openly accusing Syria of not only killing the former premier, but also a long list of prominent Lebanese politicians since the civil war. And the government witnessed its first crack, with the resignation of Tourism Minister Farid Khazen, who was replaced with his relative Wadi Khazen. Al-Hariri's assassination has galvanised a strong current of unity, unprecedented since the end of the civil war in 1990. Sectarian differences had until now kept Syria's grip in Lebanon unchallenged. Among Damascus's chief backers here is the Muslim Shia Hizbullah, itself a target of UN Resolution 1559. But Prime Minister Karameh said, "If the Syrians leave who will strip Hizbullah of its arms? And who will enter [Palestinian] camps to strip them of weapons?" Ties with Syria should be treated "through dialogue and constitutional institutions, and not by bickering or by taking to the streets", Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayed Hassan Nasrallah told some 150,000 people at a rally marking the Shia commemoration of Ashoura. Nasrallah was hinting at the strength of his party in the face of mounting calls for Hizbullah to disarm and for the Lebanese army to deploy troops along Israel's border to end tensions that have persisted despite Israel's May 2000 withdrawal. Syria and Lebanon have so far justified the group's armed action by Israel's continued occupation of the disputed Shebaa Farms. Nasrallah has kept the door for dialogue with the opposition wide open. On Monday, opposition leader Jumblatt urged Nasrallah "to join the procession of the Lebanese who want freedom and independence". Addressing Hizbullah's chief, Jumblatt told reporters that the opposition does not seek enmity with Syria but has made it clear that they will only engage in dialogue with Syria based on the Taif Accords. He said all state institutions in Lebanon are being controlled by Syria's intelligence units, whom he reiterated "were involved" in the assassination of Al-Hariri. Responding to concerns over renewed civil strife in Lebanon, Jumblatt said, "A new war will not erupt, and there is no justification for it. The majority of the Lebanese people are united, but we only wish for Sayed Nasrallah, the grand Lebanese, who liberated Lebanese land from Israel, to join the convoy." Jumblatt's supporters and the growing multi-confessional opposition have been wearing white and red scarves around their necks to highlight their struggle. On Monday tens of thousands of them observed a moment of silence to mark the passing of a week since Al-Hariri's assassination at the exact time that his convoy was attacked. The late leader's family brought some solace to the grieving Lebanese. "We will remain at the heart of the national effort. We announce our commitment to his political line, based on Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and unity," the family said in a statement.
