“HUMAN TSUNAMI” COVERS BEIRUT

Publius Pundit ^ | 3/14/2005 | Robert Mayer

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

There is more at the:

Publius Pundit
News and commentary on global liberty and democracy movements

Looks like a great Blog Site.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Todays Beirut Rally threads:

[MEG33]

This is great!...Just watching the demonstration on Fox!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

The Story behind the Flag Photo:

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March 12, 2005

Lebanonwire

10,000 people form Lebanese flag in further tribute to Hariri

BEIRUT - More than 10,00O people holding colored pieces of cardboard formed a huge Lebanese flag here Saturday in another spirited tribute to slain former prime minister Rafiq Hariri.

Participants, young and old, women in headscarves and those with hair flying in the wind, gathered in Martyrs Square where Hariri and his seven bodyguards killed in a February 14 bomb attack are buried.

Their 3,800-square-meter flag was formed by cardboard pieces that on one side were in the Lebanese colors -- red, white and green -- and black on the reverse side.

When a speaker addressing the crowd made reference, for example, to Lebanese MPs said to be in the pay of foreign powers, pieces were flipped and the flag turned black.

The flag returned to its normal colors on a call for light to be shed on Hariri's killing, which many Lebanese suspect was the work of Syria. Syrian authorities, who have troops stationed in Lebanon, have strongly denied involvement.

The assassination has intensified demands for a Syrian military withdrawal and spawned a tent city in Martyrs Square of young militants pressing for an end to Syria's influence in Lebanon.

Organizers of Saturday's event said hundreds of groups had answered a call put out by a movement known as Wave of the Future.

The crowd dispersed shouting "Syria Out" and "Liberty, sovereignty, independence."

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Links are NOT working here.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Where did they show that?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

From Naharnet:

Opposition Stages Biggest Show of Muscle, Accuses Regime of Murdering Hariri

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Opposition Stages Biggest Show of Muscle, Accuses Regime of Murdering Hariri
Lebanon's national opposition front is staging a massive show of force at Rafik Hariri's graveside in downtown Beirut Monday amid outspoken charges that President Lahoud's Syrian-backed regime was behind the billionaire ex-premier's assassination.
Endless bus convoys were pouring into the capital from all over Lebanon to take part in the mid-afternoon sit-in at the Martyrs Square, waving a sea of Lebanese national flags and chanting 'Truth, Sovereignty and Independence.'

Bussed protestors from the Christian heartland north of Beirut complained that army checkpoints were purposely slowing the drive to Beirut by insisting on frisking each traveler bodily. They said many had switched to boats and were heading by sea to Beirut beaches.

Thousands of opposition activists from all political and sectarian shades of Lebanon's spectrum spent the night at a make-shift metropolis of blue tents erected just across the street from Hariri's grave at the courtyard of Al Amin Mosque and in cars and buses parked nearby.

They maintained a nightlong candle light vigil at the grave and drew with burning candles the word 'Truth' in Arabic and English, which Hariri's sister, Bahia, said it means "we want the full truth about who conspired, planned and executed the assassination."

Roaring chants rang out from the crowds at midmorning, demanding that State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum and commanders of all six major security and intelligence departments of the country be sacked for allowing Hariri's assassination to happen exactly one month ago.

"This is a demand we shall keep alive in non-strop graveside sits-in," said Hariri's parliament bloc member Walid Ido. "The secret services have become a death machine, a death mill toiling without letup."

Ido spoke on Hariri's Future-TV network screen a few hours after ex-Defense Minister Mohsen Dalloul directly accused the Lahoud regime of involvement in Hariri's assassination, revealing that a police unit assigned to protect the ex-premier was withdrawn a few days before the crime.

"Hariri had worked out an agreement with President Lahoud to have the police unit assigned to protect and escort him as a former prime minister. The force was actually put on the job and it functioned from Hariri's Koreitem mansion," Dalloul said in an interview aired by the F-TV Sunday night.

"When Hariri's aides managed to reach the official responsible for the protection unit, he said Hariri has plenty of money and he can hire his own security apparatus," said Dalloul, a parliament member who served as defense minister in one of Hariri's governments.

"The crime took place a few days later and now officials are boasting that 'the crime is behind us,' which means they have committed the crime," Dalloul added.

Beirut, Updated 14 Mar 05, 17:08

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Biggest Opposition Demo Swears to Break Syria's Stranglehold and Lahoud's Regime

U.N. Investigators Reportedly Revealing 'Devastating Cover Up' in Hariri's Murder

Aoun Says he Will Return to Lebanon 'Within Weeks'

U.N. Envoy Warns Lebanon Against Canceling Elections

Jumblat Speaks of 'Death Sentence' Behind his Depiction as Jewish Rabbi

¼ of Syrian Army is Out under 'Fast Withdrawal Timetable'

U.S. Keeps up Pressure on Syria to Leave Lebanon before Elections

Opposition Stages Biggest Show of Muscle, Accuses Regime of Murdering Hariri

Assad Pledges Total Withdrawal of Troops, Spies by April 27?

Lahoud Warns of 'Catastrophe' by Grenade into Post-Hariri Protest

Jumblat Back for Biggest Sit-in at Hariri's Graveside

Franjieh Recommends Firing 2 Beirut Police Generals

Syria Hints it May Open an Embassy in Beirut

Syrian Shopkeeper Stabbed to Death in Beirut

Karami Accepts U.S. ex-President Jimmy Carter to Monitor Lebanon's Elections

U.N. Presses for Withdrawal Timetable Without Ultimatum to Assad

Syria Evacuated N. Lebanon, Including Rene Mouawad Airfield

Opposition Wins Support from the Urals to the Atlantic

U.N. 'Steel-Hard' Ultimatum to Assad to Quit Lebanon

Rice Tells Syria: 'Beware Deepened Isolation'

[MEG33]

It was the rerun of Brit's show..

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Opposition Wins Support from the Urals to the Atlantic
An opposition delegation to Europe has returned to Beirut with iron-clad assurances stretching from Russia's Ural mountains to the shores of the Atlantic to support Lebanon's drive to regain its full sovereignty and independence from Syria.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat won Russia's support to the cause during talks he held with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Friday just as eight other opposition figures were getting a pledge of unlimited support from France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier in Paris.

The crisis over Lebanon must not be allowed to destabilize either that country or the wider Middle East, Lavrov said after the meeting with Jumblat. "We must help find a way out of the crisis, not destabilize the situation, either in Lebanon or in the region."

Lavrov made no direct response to Jumblat's request from Russia to help investigate Hariri's assassination. But he said "we were deeply shocked by the terrorist act which killed Hariri. He had done a great deal to ensure that Lebanon developed along a stable path, and always tried to provide full sovereignty for Lebanon."

The delegation to Paris included Jumblat's senior-most aide Marwan Hamadeh, presidential aspirant Nassib Lahoud and legislators Naila Mouawad, Ghattas khoury, Mosbah Ahdab and Ahmed Fatfat. The delegation visited Brussels before traveling to Paris.

Delegation members said in interviews carried by An Nahar Saturday that France and the European Union have made Lebanon a top priority, focusing on the recovery of Lebanese sovereignty, the withdrawal of the Syrian army and intelligence apparatus before the April-May elections and investigating Hariri's assassination to the bitter end.

The delegation also held a meeting with Exiled Gen. Michel Aoun, who hastened to don the red-and-white scarf that has become the emblem of the Lebanese opposition. Aoun and the delegation agreed on:

1-A total withdrawal of the Syrian army and intelligence personnel,

2-The formation of a neutral government in Lebanon to superintend the spring elections with international observation,

3-Sacking the masterminds of the police state that is controlling Lebanon,

4-An international investigation of Hariri's assassination.

Beirut, Updated 14 Mar 05, 09:01

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks, I decided they weren't gonna show anything and went elsewhere.

This Blog is fantastic....

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Looks of background on todays Big Rally and Major news regarding putting pressure on Syria!!!

[NormsRevenge]

When a speaker addressing the crowd made reference, for example, to Lebanese MPs said to be in the pay of foreign powers, pieces were flipped and the flag turned black.

God bless these folks as they seek to be FRee of their oppressors.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Thanks for that GREAT LINK to this Blog!

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

See post #9, Lebanon has this baby WIRED....Syria is OUT....course it might make everyone feel even better if we happened to position one of our Carrier groups offshore within sight of the Lebanese people.....

[WOSG]

Sounds great!
Will link to it from:

http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Post #7 has the links workinng , unless I screwed up one of them. They are from here:

naharnet.com

See linked News Items on the right!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, Ernest, for the ping.

Druze leader Walid Jumblat won Russia's support to the cause during talks he held with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow Friday just as eight other opposition figures were getting a pledge of unlimited support from France's Foreign Minister Michel Barnier in Paris.

Russian support is just words -- won't materialize when it counts. French support though (and it's hard to believe after what we've been through the past few years, er, decades, with those bastards) will prove to be solid. The French need Lebanon, in order to not get themselves dealt out of the Middle East entirely and for all time.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Very nice Blog...

[SunkenCiv]

"writing the end of President Lahoud’s police state and its Syrian backers... this is the end to the one whose regime has been extended and to those who extended his regime."

Doesn't sound like a note of optimism regarding the longevity of the Assad quasi-monarchy in Syria, either. ;'D

[MEG33]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1362946/posts
Anti-Syrians outdo Hizbullah in street protests
The Guardian ^ | 3/15/05 | Brian Whitaker