Amid tightened security measures, hundreds of thousands of
Lebanese rallied Tuesday at Martyrs Square in central Beirut
marking the first anniversary of the murder of former Lebanese
prime minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The demonstrators raised Lebanese flags and banners reading
"Independence, Sovereignty, Freedom", "Lebanese Unity", and chanted
repeatedly the Lebanese national anthem.
The demonstrators carried pictures of Hariri and those of
anti-Syrian figures killed in a spate of bombings that followed
Hariri's assassination, including editor and lawmaker Gibran Tueni,
journalist Samir Quseir and former secretary general of the
Lebanese Communist Party George Hawi.
The massive demonstration was attended by the slain former prime
minister's son and leader of the Future bloc Saad al-Hariri among
other anti-Syrian figures.
The crowds fell silent at 12:55 PM (10:55 GMT), the time that a
huge truck bomb exploded on a downtown street as Hariri's motorcade
drove by a year ago, killing him and 20 others. A horn blew three
times to mark the moment of explosion. Then the crowd roared with
shouts of "Syria out" and "Truth, Freedom, National Unity!"
The UN probe has implicated some Syrian and Lebanese officials
into Hariri's murder.
Syria has denied involvement and completed pullout of its troops
and intelligence agents from Lebanon last April under mounting
pressure.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2006)
