MIDEAST: Beirut Square Stands Firm Against Syria

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Marianne Stigset

BEIRUT, Mar 7 2005 (IPS) - Syrian President Bashir al-Assad’s much anticipated speech before parliament on the status of the Syrian presence in Lebanon drew mixed reactions from the Lebanese.

Syrian President Bashir al-Assad’s much anticipated speech before parliament Saturday on the status of the Syrian presence in Lebanon drew mixed reactions from the Lebanese.

In his hour-long speech, the Syrian President announced a two-phased redeployment of Syrian troops, first to the Bekaa Valley, then to the Lebanese-Syrian border – but without specifying which side of it.

Under increasing international pressure to withdraw from its neighboring country, Assad justified his decision to pull out by saying that “Syria does not wish to stay in Lebanon, should its presence become a factor in creating internal divisions in the country.”

Yet the President failed to give a clear timetable for the withdrawal, and did not address the sensitive issue of whether Syrian intelligence would also be pulled back.

Emotions ran high on Martyrs’ Square in downtown Beirut, where thousands of Lebanese demonstrators had gathered to listen to Assad’s speech.

Amid the sea of Lebanese flags were banners calling for Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, as well as pictures of slain former premier Rafik Hariri.

Skepticism was in the air from the get-go. “If anything, it will provide us with a good laugh,” a young demonstrator commented nonchalantly as he walked down the street past army barriers.

Security had been significantly stepped up around the capital ahead of the speech. Lebanese troops backed by several armoured vehicles had been positioned around the headquarters of the Syrian intelligence headquarters in the Beirut suburbs.

Army units blocked the roads leading to Martyrs’ Square, where the sit-in led by demonstrators demanding full Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon and an investigation into Hariri’s assassination was entering its 18th day. Busloads of troops were parked around the downtown area, and soldiers were stationed on the roofs of surrounding buildings. As a result, some demonstrators argued, many people were unable to join the event.

Although contained, demonstrators at the square reacted with anger to the Syrian President’s speech. “He said he was going to withdraw the troops to the Bekaa – since when is the Bekaa Syrian territory?” asked Edouard Ghanem, a demonstrator from the Free Patriotic Movement.

To roars of acclamation from the crowd, a representative of the organisers of the sit-in took the microphone and vowed that the popular movement would persist, and would be seen demonstrating again Monday.

Defying Assad’s claim that media had been exaggerating the number of protesters in Beirut, calls were made for people to come out of their homes and join the movement. As the national anthem erupted from the loudspeakers, crowds joined in, singing at the top of their voices.

Yet many were still seething. “I am too angry to comment on the speech,” said Hassan Yaoub from the Free Patriotic Movement as he walked away.

Walid Fakhreddine, a member of the sit-in movement, was equally agitated. “He didn’t say anything, he just said he was going to take his time,” Fakhreddine said. “In Syrian politics, that means he is not going to withdraw from Lebanon. He is just lying to the international community, as he keeps doing again, and again and again.”

Standing behind the stage with fellow activists, Sami Gemayel, son of President Amin Gemayel, whose foiled peace accord with the Israelis was mentioned several times during Assad’s speech as a warning to the Lebanese people, remained calm. “It was worthless,” the 24 year-old student said. “It was all lies. His portrayal of the current situation and Syria’s role in Lebanon was completely deceitful. He made it sound as though the Syrians came here to help the Lebanese reconcile themselves and to reunify the country, whereas the truth is that they did everything they could to divide the Lebanese and impose their rule on the entire population.”

Others were more concerned, seeing in Assad’s statement a thinly veiled threat to the Lebanese people.

“The speech contained lots of threats,” said Ziad Majed, vice-president of the Democratic Left movement. “His reminding of the 1980s, which were the worst years of the Lebanese civil war, was him indirectly saying that any Syrian withdrawal would lead to chaos and that this will create instability in Lebanon, as well as in the region.”

On the political front, Assad’s declaration was met with cautious optimism. Walid Jumblatt, one of the leaders of the opposition movement, indicated that the speech was a positive first step.

“It’s a positive start,” he said. “Our hands are extended with the insistence on a timetable for the withdrawal.” The lack of a clear timetable for troop withdrawal remained a concern.

“The is a first in the 30 years of Lebanese-Syrian relations,” opposition MP Nassib Lahoud said in a statement, “but the speech must be followed by action on the ground.” Several opposition leaders criticised Assad’s reference to the May 17 accord and to what he had called the “ingratitude” of the Lebanese people for what the Syrians had done for them.

“I find it deplorable that the President allows himself to judge the Lebanese by accusing them of servicing foreign interests,” National Bloc leader Carlos Eddé commented. “Furthermore, Syria’s assistance to Lebanon was equally profitable to the Syrian leaders, as well as the Syrian economy.”

Despite the positive signs some saw in the announcement, the entire political opposition bloc called for the protest movement to pursue its course, until all of its demands had been met.