Protesters paralyze Lebanon's capital

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Christians waving Lebanese flags poured into central Beirut on Dec. 1 as opposition leaders gave impassioned speeches calling for the resignation of the presidential cabinet and the formation of a new, more inclusive government. The huge crowd, numbering perhaps 800,000 or almost a quarter of the population, packed two squares in the city center. They had traveled from all over Lebanon. A tent city was set up for the thousands who vowed to stay outside the government offices where the prime minister, Fouad Siniora, and most of his ministers were holed up behind barbed wire and barriers until the cabinet stepped down. "I call on the prime minister and his ministers to quit," said opposition leader Michel Aoun, to roars of applause. Aoun, who fought a 15-year campaign to rid Lebanon of Syrian influence and commands the largest Christian following, led the opposition speeches emphasizing that opposition to the Sunni-led government goes wider than Shia Hezbollah. The Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, seen by many as a driving force of the opposition, has yet to make an appearance. Heeding Nasrallah's call for an open-ended strike and indefinite sit-in, many who came said they would not leave until their demands were met. "Until the problem is over, we will stay," said a mother and daughter who had traveled two hours to Beirut from southern Lebanon. "We have brought supplies and we will sleep here if necessary until the government resigns." Hezbollah and its allies have been demanding the formation of a government of national unity, after six Shia ministers resigned from the cabinet three weeks ago, leaving the government without any Shia Muslim representatives. Since the early morning of Dec. 1, demonstrators had been streaming into the city center, where organizers were handing out water and refreshments. Amid the carnival atmosphere, many expressed frustration at their lack of representation. "We are not asking only for a government of the opposition, but we want to be part of the decision-making process. We will not accept anything less than partnership," said 37-year-old architect Rana. Saha Samat, 30, whose family had come from the north of Lebanon, said she was fed up with the exclusion of much of the country's Christian community. "We want a government that represents all Lebanese. I'm not with any political party; we have come as Lebanese. It's not just the economic situation; we want a unified government. It's not fair that all these people are not represented," she said, pointing at tens of thousands of Lebanese flags fluttering in the sun. The government has also come under fire over its relationship with Washington and its conduct during the summer's 34-day-war between Israel and Hezbollah. "This government didn't help us at all during the war so we want the government now to end," said 17-year-old Mona. "We love Nasrallah because, without him, Lebanon would have been destroyed, but he made Israel leave." "Our people were being killed everyday by Israel and they [the government] were taking orders from its ally, America. No one from this government has even visited the south yet," says Khaled Khadash, a 47-year-old marketing manager. So far, the demonstrations have been peaceful for five days, interrupted only by the death in a street brawl of Ahmed Mahmoud. Mahmoud was shot in clashes that erupted between residents of a Sunni neighborhood and Shiite protesters returning from the demonstrations. The exact circumstances of his death remained unclear. Hezbollah and its allies called the protest after the government rejected their demands for a greater share of power in the cabinet. Hezbollah claims that the resignation of the Shia cabinet ministers last month renders the present administration unconstitutional. Hezbollah has insisted the protesters will remain in the streets until the government resigns. Siniora reiterated he would not step down and has insisted only Parliament–where his allies hold the majority by five votes–can change his government. "The only way to solve the problem is to sit together behind a table and discuss all our differences," he told reporters. "We are not letting them [ministers] sleep, we're disturbing them with our noise. We have the resilience to stay not for one month, but a year or two," said Ahmed Kayello, 20, from south Lebanon, sitting on a grassy slope within earshot of the office-turned-residence of Prime Minister Siniora. Siniora and his supporters call the protest campaign a coup attempt led by neighboring Syria and its ally Iran, a stance echoed by Washington. Hezbollah and its allies contend the real fight is against US influence, saying the United States now dominates Lebanon in the interests of Israel. Banners demanded the resignation of the "Feltman government," in a reference to the US ambassador in Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman. In Jerusalem, Israeli officials warned that the fall of Siniora's moderate government could lead to the establishment of an Iranian proxy state on Israel's northern border and increase the probability of war between the two nations. "We assure the Lebanese that change is coming soon. A national unity government will be achieved," Hezbollah member of Parliament Hussein Haj Hassan told the group's al-Manar television from the camp city.