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Syrian forces remain in positions

Hezbollah activists set up pro-Syrian banners during preparations for a demonstration in Beirut, Lebanon, yesterday. PHOTO: AP

A day after an announcement that Syrian forces would redeploy to eastern Lebanon, most of the troops were still in position yesterday, with only a scattered movement of trucks carrying furniture and supplies up the central mountains toward the Bekaa Valley.

In Beirut, black-clad activists from the Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah took over a central square to set up for the first major pro-Syrian demonstration planned for mid-afternoon.

Loudspeakers were installed, sniffer dogs searched the area and street drainage holes were checked for explosives ahead of the mid-afternoon protest. Large cranes hoisted two giant white and red flags bearing Lebanon's cedar tree. On one, the words "Thank you Syria" were written in English; on the other, "No to foreign interference."

The protest was called to counter the almost daily anti-Syrian protests staged by the Lebanese opposition. Hezbollah has been mobilizing its followers from across the country for the protest, also meant to reject international interference, a reference to the US-led international pressure on Syria.

The square where the protest was to be held was just a few blocks from another downtown square where opposition protesters have been staging sit-ins for days.

On Monday, in the biggest demonstration yet of anti-Syrian furor, more than 70,000 Lebanese shouting "Freedom! Sovereignty! Independence!" thronged central Beirut. The demonstrators waved Lebanon's cedar-tree flag and thundered, "Syria out!"

The demonstrators marched to the site of the Feb. 14 bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and touched off the angry but peaceful street protests that drove Lebanon's pro-Syrian government to resign a week ago. Many Lebanese accuse the Syrian government and their government of responsibility for Hariri's death; both deny any involvement.

Faced with incessant international pressure and raging Lebanese opposition, Syrian President Bashar Assad on Saturday announced his troops would withdraw after nearly three decades in Lebanon. On Monday, he met with President Emile Lahoud in Damascus and jointly announced a plan.

But the plan set no deadline for the complete withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon, and Washington rejected the pullback as insufficient. The plan also was unlikely to satisfy the Lebanese opposition and the rest of the international community, which have demanded that all 14,000 Syrian soldiers and an unknown number of intelligence agents leave the country.

Yesterday morning, there was little movement of military traffic on the mountain roads in central Lebanon. In Hammana, high up in the foggy and rainy mountains, five soldiers huddled around a bonfire.
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