Lebanonwire.com | Beirut explodes with joy as 'people power' brings down government

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February 28, 2005

Beirut explodes with joy as 'people power' brings down government
by Nayla Razzouk

BEIRUT, Feb 28 (AFP) - The Lebanese capital exploded in rapturous cheers on Monday as tens of thousands of demonstrators hailed the "people power" that led to the downfall of the government in the face of unprecedented public protests.

In scenes reminiscent of the "orange revolution" in Ukraine, Beirut was a sea of red and white Lebanese flags as Prime Minister Omar Karameh announced his resignation two weeks after his predecessor Rafiq Hariri was murdered.

"For the first time, Lebanese public opinion has won," said Ghinwa Jallul, an MP with Hariri's political bloc.

Demonstrators who have been staging almost daily protests against the regime and its Syrian backers since Hariri's killing burst into boisterous applause as they watched Karameh's announcement on a giant television screen.

Fireworks and car horns greeted the news around the capital and in other towns as people hugged each other, chanting triumphantly "he's resigned, he's resigned".

"Karameh has fallen, your turn will come, Lahoud, and yours, Bashar," the demonstrators chanted, referring to President Emile Lahoud and his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad.

The crowds, estimated to number some 60,000, had defied a government ban on demonstrations and massed in the heart of Beirut as parliament held a special debate on Hariri's murder in a huge February 14 bomb blast.

Karameh, a staunchly pro-Syrian politician, previously served as prime minister from December 1990 to May 1992, when he was also forced to step down amid huge demonstrations, that time over the economy.

He had been premier this time round for only four months after taking over from Hariri, a billionaire who was widely credited with spearheading the rebuilding of Lebanon after the 1975-1990 civil war.

But in stark contrast to the scenes of joy in the capital and other cities, the mood was one of anger in Karameh's home town of Tripoli. His supporters launched volleys of machine-gun fire into the air, blocked traffic with burning tyres and tore down opposition banners.

"With our blood, with our soul, we will defend you o Karameh," they shouted, along with slogans insulting leading opposition figure, the Druze MP Walid Jumblatt and voicing their backing for Syria.

Elsewhere, the massive public outcry against the government and its Syrian backers recalled the mass protests in Ukraine over rigged polls that triggered a re-election and brought President Viktor Yushchenko to power.

But the demonstrators vowed that their protests were not over yet.

"We will stay here until there is an immediate and full withdrawal of the Syrian army and its intelligence agents. We are determined to find out the truth about Hariri's assassination," said Elias Atallah, leader of a movement calling itself the Democratic Left.

Shouting "Syria out!" protesters had begun massing near Hariri's burial place in Martyrs' Square from before midnight on Sunday despite the government ban.

But the hundreds of heavily armed troops and police out in force did little to stop the rallies, as crowds just climbed over their barricades designed to close off access to the square.

"It's all thanks to you this has happened," demonstrators told the soldiers.