Protests force out Lebanese government

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- With shouts of "Syria out!", more than 25,000 flag-waving protesters massed outside Parliament Monday in a dramatic display of defiance that forced the resignation of Lebanon's prime minister and Cabinet two weeks after the assassination of an opposition leader.\nCheering broke out among the demonstrators in Martyrs' Square when they heard Prime Minister Omar Karami's announcement on loudspeakers that the government was stepping down. Throughout the day, protesters handed out red roses to soldiers and police.\n"It is the first victory, but it will not be the last," opposition leader and former information minister Ghazi al-Areedh told the crowd in a scene broadcast live around the Arab world.\nBut in the northern port of Tripoli, Karami's hometown, about 50 supporters angered by his resignation shot pistols in the air and blocked a street in front of his office.\nHowever, opponents drove around the city, honking in joy.\nMany in Lebanon accuse Syria and Karami's government of being behind the slayings of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 16 others in a huge Feb. 14 bombing, pressing hard in the two weeks since for the government to resign and for Syria to withdraw its roughly 15,000 troops positioned in Lebanon.\n"We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!" protesters chanted, climbing the martyrs' statue and praying before candles at Hariri's flower-covered grave, which lies at the piazza's edge.\nSyrian President Bashar Assad said in a newspaper interview published Monday that he would not withdraw troops from Lebanon until Damascus had guarantees and there was overall "peace" in the region. Syrian intelligence agents also are present through much of the country and could be used to crack down on the opposition movement.\nIn Washington, the White House praised the resignation of Karami's government, saying it opens the door for new elections "free of all foreign interference" from neighboring Syria.\n"We are closely watching developments with great interest," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said. "The resignation of the Karami government represents an opportunity for the Lebanese people to have a new government that is truly representative of their country's diversity."\nKarami'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.\nKarami had replaced the billionaire Hariri, credited with playing a key role in rebuilding Lebanon after its devastating 1975-90 civil war.\n"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.\nThe protesters went further, immediately shouting for the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.\n"Lahoud, your turn is coming!" they said.\nSpeakers urged demonstrators to stay put, saying the leaders of the security services also must be ousted.\n"The heads of security agencies are responsible for what happened in this country, and they must pay," legislator Ghattas Khoury said. "Do not leave this square before they resign."\nLahoud's six-year term was renewed in September by Parliament, under apparent Syrian pressure to change the constitution, which banned further terms. A U.N. resolution demanded Lebanon hold presidential elections, Syrian troops pull out of Lebanon and Syria stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.\n"The battle is not over. It is just beginning. We want to know who killed Prime Minister Hariri," opposition legislator Faris Saeed said to demonstrators.\nThe crowd, some flashing "V for victory" signs, responded loudly and in unison: "Syria! Syria!"\nAssad said in remarks published Monday that a Syrian troop withdrawal depended on achieving peace in the Middle East.\n"Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year," Assad told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica. "But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace."\nThe Bush administration Monday demanded anew that Syria comply with a U.N. resolution to pull its troops out of Lebanon and stop interfering in Lebanese affairs.\n"Syrian military forces and intelligence personnel need to leave the country," McClellan said. "That will help ensure that elections are free and fair"