http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/nation_world/article/0,2845,MCA_25345_5205029,00.html
Hezbollah backers protest in Lebanon By Sam F. Ghattas Associated Press December 11, 2006 BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah members and their allies flooded central Beirut on Sunday demanding changes in the government's makeup as soldiers strung more barbed wire around the offices of the Western-backed premier. Buoyed by the big turnout after a week of street protests, the pro-Syria opposition gave Prime Minister Fuad Saniora an ultimatum of a "few days" to accept its demand to form a national unity government with a big role for Hezbollah or face an escalating campaign to oust him. Saniora, who has been holed up in his fortified office downtown, urged his foes to resume negotiations. The opposition should "return to the constitutional institutions to discuss differences and reach real solutions," he said in a statement. Political unrest has split the country along sectarian lines, with most Sunni Muslims supporting the Sunni prime minister and Shiite Muslims backing the militant Hezbollah. Christian factions are split between the two camps. But despite the heated rhetoric, Sunday's mass gathering remained peaceful and left the door open to a settlement. "Hopefully it won't be long. At the end, there will be no winner, no vanquished. We should all be winners," said Saad Hariri, leader of parliament's anti-Syria majority and a Saniora supporter. Police had no crowd estimate, but the horde that jammed downtown plazas and many neighborhoods appeared to be one of the biggest in a country where there has been a string of mammoth demonstrations by both sides in recent years. A Hezbollah rally Dec. 1 drew 800,000 of Lebanon's 4 million people, according to police. Pro-government groups staged a rival demonstration that drew tens of thousands in the northern city of Tripoli. The crisis began after talks on a national unity government collapsed and six pro-Hezbollah ministers resigned from the Cabinet. Hezbollah is demanding that it and its allies hold a third of the Cabinet posts, which would allow them to veto government decisions. +++ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
