Posted on 02/18/2005 9:35:02 AM PST by HAL9000
That article indicates that the Christians and Syrians had a split in 1978. Is there anything to indicate recent support for Syria by the Lebanese Christians?
Lenbanese= Lebanese
Bull - Syrians keep the Muslims in check.
LOL! Yeah - Walid Jumblat is a lurker...
Opposition declares independence uprising
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Feb. 18 (UPI) -- The multi-sectarian Lebanese opposition Friday demanded Syria end its military presence and called for dismissal of the government.
"In response to the policy of intimidation and terrorization by the Lebanese authorities and the Syrian authorities, the Lebanese opposition declares the launching of the democratic and peaceful uprising for independence," the opposition said in a statement.
"We demand the dismissal of the government, which has no legitimacy, and the formation of a transitional administration to protect the Lebanese people and ensure the immediate withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon to pave the way for holding free and honest legislative elections."
The opposition also called for an international investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri under the auspices of the United Nations.
"I wonder if we have a carrier posted in the Eastern Med."
during the war with israel, the druze and the christian's were allied with Israel... against syria.
when did that change?
Doesn't this mean war? I mean, does anyone really think that the Syrians are going to back down now?
Even more astounding was to hear that Prime Minister Paul Martin of Canuckistan declared that the Syrians are "peacekeepers" in Lebanon!
The vast majority of Christians (95%) are still vehemently against Syria and its occupation to Lebanon. Now the Druze and Sunni Muslims have joined the Lebanese Christians to kick Syria and its intelligence apparatus out of Lebanon as well as remove its puppet government.</p>
This is HUGE. It means the end of Syria in Lebanon, sooner not later (by this spring).
Druze + Christian = majority of Lebanon. And other Arab groups are on board too. The Lebanese are united against Syrian rule.
i'm linking to this in my latest blog post:
http://freedomstruth.blogspot.com
Good.
They take significant steps to demand Syria get out of their country, and as promised, we'll support them. Positive step here.
Lebanese opposition demands "independence uprising"
BEIRUT, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Opposition figures urged the Lebanese to join an "independence uprising" against Syria's grip on their country on Friday, escalating a war of words following former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri's assassination.
Hariri's killing in Beirut on Monday sparked anti-Syrian fury among many Lebanese and renewed world pressure on Damascus to loosen its political grip and remove its troops from Lebanon.
Tourism Minister Farid al-Khazen resigned in a further sign of political turbulence and Syria named a new military intelligence chief.
Khazen, a Maronite Christian, became the first minister to quit because of the assassination and said he had done so because the Syrian-backed government was unable to "remedy the dangerous situation in the country.
"There is no substitute for national dialogue on the basis of the Taif agreement," he said, referring to the deal that ended the 1975-1990 civil war and committed Syria to moving the troops it keeps in Lebanon to the eastern Bekaa Valley.
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and figures from the disparate opposition movement blamed the government and its Syrian backers for Hariri's death and called for its resignation.
After meeting on Friday, they urged Lebanese to back a peaceful "independence uprising" -- the first time they had used the term.
Parliament must also suspend all debate unrelated to the assassination, they told a news conference, until the truth about who killed Hariri emerged.
"This isn't just the opposition," Jumblatt earlier told reporters. "All the Lebanese are with Hariri, a free Lebanon and Syrian withdrawal." Hariri moved towards a similar position in the months before his death.
It was not immediately clear what form of protest the uprising would take.
Protesters set fire to the tents of Syrian farm workers near the northern town of Tripoli, the latest attack on Syrians in Lebanon. No injuries were reported.
BACK TO BUSINESS
Traffic jams returned to Beirut streets on Friday after three days of mourning for the Sunni Muslim billionaire.
"We ask the state to unveil the perpetrators ... and not to close the file of the martyred Hariri along with the long list of other unresolved crimes," Sheikh Ahmed al-Kurdi told worshippers in a downtown mosque near where Hariri was buried.
Lebanese of all religious beliefs have flocked to Hariri's grave to bring flowers and light candles since his funeral on Wednesday turned into a mass anti-Syrian street protest.
Several hundred people marched towards the grave on Friday evening shouting independence slogans.
Financial markets were busy but mostly stable on their first trading day since Hariri's death, despite tension and U.S. President George W. Bush's latest demand for Syria to pull out its 14,000 troops.
The Lebanese pound closed unchanged, but the central bank had to sell dollars, as it had pledged to do, to defend the currency against pressure from jittery investors.
Shares in the Hariri-founded Solidere real estate company, Lebanon's biggest firm, fell the maximum 15 percent allowed.
Officials said President Emile Lahoud had finally gone to pay condolences to Hariri's relatives, who had refused to let him or other top officials attend Wednesday's funeral.
He told them he would do all he could to find the culprits, a statement from his office said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad named his brother-in-law, Major-General Asef Shawkat, as head of military intelligence to replace retiring Major-General Hassan Khalil. Syrian sources said the change took effect on Monday, Khalil's 60th birthday.
In August, Assad issued a decree barring the extension of service terms of all officers in the armed forces.
Bush said on Thursday Syria should comply with a U.N. resolution demanding its troops leave Lebanon and should allow parliamentary elections scheduled for May to be free and fair.
He recalled the U.S. ambassador to Syria this week in reaction to the bombing, but has said Washington does not know who was behind the killing. Syria has denied involvement.
That's the spin now by the powers that be that wantto get Syria.
The minute Syria leaves, the Christians are done for.
Amazing how this works.
The Syrians execute a massive homicide bombing.
GW condemns it.
Now this groups speaks out against Syria.
The Lebanese Christians can hold there own and there will be no other civil war as the Syrian always threatens that this war will occur once they leave.
Do not buy the Syrian terrorist regime propaganda.
Are you siding with the Syrian terrorist regime?
Are you siding with the Sunni Muslims?
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