BEIRUT, April 12 (AFP) - The February 14 assassination of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri has exacerbated anti-Syrian sentiments in Lebanon which find their roots in the dark days of the country's 15-year civil war.

The shock murder blamed by many on the Lebanese regime and its political masters in Damascus has sparked widespread protests that brought down the government and led Syria to speed up a troop pullout planned to be completed by April 30.

In a rare public act of unity, Lebanese Christians and Muslims have been gathering at Martyrs' Square in the heart of Beirut to voice their common anger at Syria's continued military presence and political domination.

"Syria out!" "Enough humilations, enough assassinations!" "We want the truth," "we want freedom, sovereignty, independence," were among their slogans which finally expressed long-repressed feelings.

Anti-Syrian sentiments triggered a limited wave of harassment of Syrian workers in Lebanon that prompted Lebanese opposition leaders to warn against such chauvinistic acts.

The opposition has called for establishing more balanced relations with Syria while denouncing the repressive regime in Damascus.

A former US ambassador to Lebanon recently told AFP that "when things are well, Lebanon is the best country in the world, but when there are problems, the Lebanese become chauvinistic."

Israeli soldiers who invaded Lebanon in 1982 to oust Palestinian guerrillas received a warm welcome by some Christians before relations finally broke off between Christian warlords and the Jewish state.

The situation is much more complicated when it comes to Syria, the "sister" country which has an autocratic regime fundamentally different from the relatively democratic Lebanese system.

Relations between the two nations have a long history.

"Our relations with Syria were excellent as long as we had similar relatively democratic regimes" before Nasserist and Baathist regimes ruled Syria with an iron hand, said political analyst Nawaf Salam.

Syrian troops deployed in Lebanon on June 6, 1976, a year after the outbreak of the civil war, with Washington's approval and officially to help Christian militias losing out to leftist militias and Palestinian guerrillas.

Two years later, the "pax Syriana" formula collapsed and the Christian areas of Beirut fall under a barrage of Syrian fire.

Forced out of Beirut and its surrounding areas by the Israeli army in 1982, the Syrian army made a comeback five years later.

Damascus has not been afraid to use all means to impose its word in Lebanon where it claims to have strategic interests.

Syria's domination finally became a fait accompli after the 1989 signing of the Taef national reconciliation agreements which stopped the war in Lebanon a year later.

After the Israeli troop pullout from southern Lebanon in May 2000, mainly thanks to the guerrilla operations of the Syrian-backed Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, Damascus further increased its clout over Lebanon.

Syria's control over its smaller neighbor has been extended through its mighty security services and its Lebanese allies -- both held responsible by the Lebanese opposition for Hariri's assassination.

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