Date Posted: Monday, February 28, 2005

Lebanese police and soldiers, some of whom sympathized with protestors, guard the crowd at Martyr's Square as people cheered upon hearing that Prime Minister Omar Karami's government had resigned.

BEIRUT, Feb 28 (MASNET & News Agencies) - Lebanon's pro-Syrian Prime Minister Omar Karami resigned in the face of mass protests, bringing to a head a political crisis sparked by the murder two weeks ago of his predecessor Rafik Hariri.

"I announce the resignation of the government over which I had the honor of presiding so that it does not pose an obstacle" to the probe into the killing, an emotional Karami told parliament, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The announcement was greeted with loud applause in the national assembly, where the opposition had been seeking a vote of no confidence in Karami's four-month-old government.

Outside, fireworks and car horns greeted the news around the capital and in other towns.

Tens of thousands of jubilant demonstrators, gathered in a sea of red and white Lebanese flags at the nearby Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, broke into singing the national anthem.

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

Lahoud's six-year term was renewed in September by Parliament, under apparent Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned further terms, reports the Associated Press (AP).

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

Making his announcement, Karami said he was resigning even though the government had enough votes to win a confidence motion.

"To fire off political accusations pinning the responsibility of this criminal murder on the government without any proof is a grave injustice," he said in an earlier session of the house before a recess.

Karami's cabinet will continue as a caretaker government. The next step is for the president to appoint a prime minister after consulting with parliament members. The new prime minister consults parliamentary blocs to form a Cabinet that must withstand a parliamentary vote of confidence, reports the AP.

Karami's cabinet took office after Hariri, a five-time prime minister and billionaire businessman credited with playing a key role in rebuilding Lebanon after its devastating 1975-1990 civil war, resigned in October in a row over Syrian influence in the country.

The resignation came exactly two weeks after the assassination which triggered a wave of public opposition against the Lebanese government and its backers in Damascus who are blamed for the murder.

Shouting "Syria out!" and "We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!" protesters descended on Martyrs' Square where Hariri is buried as hundreds of heavily armed troops and police guarded nearby streets.

Security forces cordoned off Martyr's Square early in the morning, but they made no serious effort to disperse the demonstrators, many of whom had slept in the square. Some soldiers and police even sympathized with the protesters and were seen advising newcomers on how to evade the cordon, reports the AP.

Many spent Sunday night at the square despite the ban on protests coming into force. And shops, banks, schools and businesses were closed in Beirut and other main cities following a call for a general strike, as, throughout the day, protesters handed out red roses to soldiers and police.

Leading opposition figure Walid Jumblatt hailed the government's resignation, saying the "people have won" and called for calm. "Today we are at a new turning point in the history of the country," he said.

"The people have been victorious but we should now form an impartial government to supervise the elections" due by the end of May, said the Druze leader.

But Jumblatt also called for the anti-Damascus camp to avoid "chauvinist slogans against Syria, with whom we are determined to have healthy relations."

A Lebanese opposition parliamentarian called for popular protests to continue in Lebanon until Syria quits the country, the news agency reports.

"The battle is long, and this is the first step, this is the battle for freedom, sovereignty and independence," Ghattas Khouri told protesters after news of Karami's resignation.

"Today the government fell. Tomorrow, it's the one huddled in Anjar," opposition leader Elias Atallah told the crowd to cheers, referring to the Syrian intelligence chief based in the eastern Lebanese town of Anjar. He said the opposition will continue its actions until all demands are met, reports the AP.

Since the murder of Hariri, international pressure has mounted on Syria to end its dominance of Lebanese political affairs and pull out its 14,000 troops stationed in the country.

Syrian intelligence agents also are present through much of the country and could be used to crack down on the opposition movement, reports the AP.

An official Syrian source, who asked not to be named, said only: "This is an internal affair. Lebanon has the constitutional channels that govern these issues."

Assad, in an interview published on Monday, again rejected accusations that Damascus had a hand in the bomb attack, which killed 17 other people as well as Hariri.

"If we really killed Hariri - that would be political suicide for us. Beyond ethical and human principles, the question is: who benefits from the crime? Certainly not Syria," he told the Italian daily La Repubblica.

But Assad said he thought Washington might eventually resort to military action against his country, reports Reuters news agency.

"Washington has imposed sanctions on us and isolated us in the past, but each time the circle hasn't closed around us," Assad told La Repubblica.

"If, however, you ask me if I'm expecting an armed attack, well I've seen it coming since the end of the war in Iraq."

Asked if an attack was imminent, Assad said: "I don't think so, for now it's just skirmishing. True, the White House language, if looked at in detail, leads one to expect a campaign similar to the one that led up to attack on Iraq."

And Assad said he would not withdraw troops from Lebanon until Damascus had guarantees and there was overall "peace" in the region.

"Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year," he said. "But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace."

Washington's number two Middle East pointman, David Satterfield, called again on Syria to start pulling out its troops before the elections in Lebanon, in line with a U.N. Security Council resolution adopted in September.

"We want to see free and fair elections take place this spring," he told reporters after meeting Lebanese Foreign Minister Mahmud Hammud.

"It's important that steps take place on the ground prior to those elections including the beginning of the implementation of Resolution 1559."

Resolution 1559 calls for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Lebanon and respect for its sovereignty but a specific reference to Syria was deleted from the final text.

Lebanese Defense Minister Abdel Rahim Mrad announced last Thursday an imminent Syrian military pullback to the Bekaa Valley of eastern Lebanon, but there have still been no signs of the redeployment.

In addition to a Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, Satterfield also said Washington wanted "concrete steps" from Syria on insurgent infiltrations into Iraq and the presence of Palestinian militia members in Damascus, reports Reuters.

"Syria should share with the rest of the Middle East, with the rest of the international community, the hope that we have for a stable, prosperous, free Iraq," he said.

In a move viewed by some as an attempt to placate Washington, Syria played a role in the capture of Saddam Hussein's half-brother, Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hasan al-Tikriti, accused of directing the Iraqi insurgency from Syria, reports Reuters.

Iraqi government sources said he was seized by Syrian Kurds in northeast Syria and handed to Iraqi Kurds before being taken into custody by Iraq's forces. Syrian Kurds are tightly watched by Damascus and are unlikely to have acted without its approval.