Civil peace in Lebanon was hanging by a thread yesterday, as hundreds of thousands of Lebanese buried their former prime minister in an emotionally charged funeral. Mohalhel Fakih reports from Beirut Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Al-Hariri was laid to rest yesterday in Beirut amid scenes of mass mourning. His politically and emotionally charged funeral took place in the heart of the city he had done so much to rebuild following the devastation of 15 years of civil war, a war he had played a leading role in bringing to an end. The devastating car bomb that killed 60- year-old Hariri on Monday claimed the lives of at least 14 other people, including seven of his bodyguards who were buried alongside Hariri at the Mohamed Al- Amin Mosque in the centre of the city. Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese, from all sects and regions, converged on Hariri's Beirut mansion in Qoreitem to pay their last respects to the former prime minister, a man who had come to symbolise their country's rebirth from the rubble of war. Across the city buildings were draped in black flags. Giant portraits of Al-Hariri were pasted on walls throughout the capital, or else carried by the huge crowds. The coffins carrying the remains of Al- Hariri and his bodyguards were draped in Lebanese flags as they were transported by ambulance, first from the American University Hospital in Beirut to Hariri's home in Qoreitem, and from there to the Al-Amin Mosque. Huge crowds packed the streets, many weeping as rice showered down from balconies and church bells rang out to mark the passing of the funeral cortege. Anti-Syrian passions ran high during the funeral with thousands chanting slogans accusing the Syrian-backed Lebanese regime of conniving with Damascus to murder Hariri, who had been inching closer towards the anti-Syrian opposition. In scenes that would have been unthinkable last week thousands of mourners shouted "Syria out. There is no God but one God. Syria is the enemy of God." Damascus may have denied any role in Hariri's assassination but Lebanon's Syrian-backed leadership was clearly warned not to attend the funeral which turned into a national congress of most of Lebanon's sects and political affiliations. The single exception was House Speaker Nabih Berri, who attended the funeral in his capacity as head of the 128-seat Lebanese Parliament. The Lebanese opposition, led by Progressive Socialist Party Chief Walid Jumblatt, joined a host of Arab and international dignitaries as they walked in the funeral procession from Hariri's home to the downtown Al-Amin Mosque, a distance of three kilometers. There in the mosque, the building of which Hariri had financed, his remains, and those of his companions, were lowered into freshly- dug graves. Before arriving at the mosque the funeral cortege snaked through the narrow roads of the newly constructed districts Hariri had championed. As the procession passed the headquarters of Lebanon's Druze community the gathered crowds brandished portraits of the late leader Kamal Jumblatt, whose son Walid has recently accused Syrian "Baath Party gangs" of assassinating at the height of the civil war in 1977. Among the many international figures who have paid their respects to the Hariri family is French President Jacques Chirac who arrived in Beirut after the funeral to give his condolences in person. Attending the funeral were Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, President Mubarak's son Gamal Mubarak, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, United Nations Undersecretary-General Lakhdar Brahimi, British Foreign Minister Jack Straw, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinus, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammad, and senior officials from the UN, European Union and Arab League. On Tuesday, a day after Hariri's assassination, the US recalled its ambassador to Syria for urgent consultations. While Washington has not directly accused Syria of responsibility for the bombing it has pointed out that Syrian troops are in Lebanon to guarantee security. The US and France, co-sponsors of Security Council Resolution 1559 that calls for a full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and the disarming of Hizbullah, stepped up pressure on Damascus to pull its 14,000 troops and other intelligence services from Lebanon. Paris has demanded an international investigation into the bombing, while the UN Security Council has called for an urgent investigation into the "terrorist" attack against Hariri and reiterated demands for a withdrawal in line with Resolution 1559. As international pressure on Syria mounts, Iran has vowed to back its main ally in the Arab world. "We are ready to help Syria on all grounds to confront threats," Iranian Vice President Mohammad Reza Aref said after meeting Syrian Prime Minister Naji Al-Otari, who was in the Iranian capital yesterday.
