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Hariri Funeral Puts Heat on Syria |
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Thursday, 17 February 2005By Alistair Lyon
BEIRUT - Lebanon's Syrian-backed government is facing growing pressure to resign after the mass
funeral of assassinated former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri turned into an impromptu rally against Damascus.
Lebanese newspapers said Wednesday's scenes of grief and anger among the tens of thousands of mourners
flooding the streets of Beirut amounted to a national referendum against Syria's military and political tutelage over its
tiny neighbour.
"Hariri's funeral was huge vote for unity and sovereignty," was the headline in Beirut's leading newspaper An-Nahar
on Thursday.
The English-language Daily Star described the funeral as a "massive, popular vote of no-confidence in the
government", saying Damascus should also heed the message.
For most of his dozen years in and out of the premiership, Hariri had toed Syria's line until resentment over Syrian
insistence on extending the term of his political rival, President Emile Lahoud, prompted him to quit in October.
In a pointed snub, Hariri's family told top government officials to stay clear of the funeral of the ebullient Sunni Muslim
billionaire who embodied Lebanon's ambitious reconstruction drive after the crippling 1975-90 civil war.
Voices from across Lebanon's communal spectrum, encouraged by the tough anti-Syrian stance of the United
States and France, are now telling Damascus and its local allies it is time to go.
The Maronite Christian patriarchate said Hariri's assassination and previous such killings typified dictatorial regimes
used to "chopping off the heads of opinion-leaders ... so that the people remain leaderless and easier to oppress".
A statement from the patriarchate said: "These type of regimes are finished...except in our region."
Other opponents of Syria's power broking role in Lebanon, from Druze leader Walid Jumblatt to exiled Christian
general Michel Aoun, have blamed Damascus for Hariri's death.
BOMBING MYSTERY
No one has produced evidence that Syria was behind Monday's bomb blast that caught Hariri's motorcade in a
plush seafront hotel district in Beirut, killing 15 people and wounding 135.
"Intensive investigations are going on. I cannot predict when we will have a breakthrough, but every day brings new
things that clarify the picture," pro-Syrian Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh told reporters, without giving details.
"Public opinion has the right to accuse whoever it wants to and the opposition has the right to exploit any incident
however it sees fit. But we have to look for who is the beneficiary and wait for the result of the investigation," he said.
Lebanon has resisted French calls for an international probe into the bombing but the military judiciary said on
Wednesday Swiss explosives and DNA experts had been asked to help.
Even amid doubt over the identity of Hariri's assassins, Syria's critics in Lebanon and beyond have seized on the
attack to demand immediate implementation of last year's U.N. Security Council resolution that called for a Syrian
pullout.
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns said Hariri's death "must give renewed impetus to achieving a free,
independent and sovereign Lebanon", adding this meant the "complete and immediate withdrawal" of all Syrian
forces.
The United States recalled its ambassador to Damascus on Tuesday for consultations after Hariri's killing. Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice said Margaret Scobey's return would depend on "how seriously the Syrians take this
signal".
Syria, which has condemned Hariri's assassination, reacted calmly and its ambassador to Washington called for
dialogue.
Imad Moustapha told CNN he saw no immediate U.S. threat to Syria, but said he was "appalled" by the political
atmosphere and blame being placed on Syria for Hariri's death.
Washington has said it is considering new sanctions on Syria for its policies in Lebanon and elsewhere in the
region.
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Thursday, 17 February 2005
Reuters via Swissinfo
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