Hundreds of thousands of government supporters converged on central Beirut on Thursday for the third anniversary of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri's assassination, as miles away Lebanon's opposition Hizbullah buried a top commander slain by a car bomb.
Amid fears of clashes between rival pro- and anti-Syrian factions, army troops and security forces were deployed in force in the capita, AFP reportedl.
A sea of people gathered under pouring rain in Martyrs' Square in central Beirut, where Hariri is buried, waving Lebanese flags and photos of the slain leader. As the rally got underway, members of Hariri's family and the ruling coalition inaugurated a square at the site of his death on the Beirut seafront.
Politicians meanwhile gave fiery speeches demanding an end to the country's presidential deadlock and accusing Syria of meddling in Lebanese politics. "I say to those encouraging an escalation that Lebanon will not be transformed into another Iraq," Sheikh Ali al-Amin, the Shiite Mufti of the southern city of Tyre told the crowd.
As the Hariri commemoration continued in the packed Beirut square, the murdered man's son and current parliamentary leader Saad Hariri told the crowd: "Today you have come again to say we want a president. And we say to you we will have a president."
He added: "The enemies of Lebanon are still trying to assassinate the Lebanese people just as the Israeli enemy tried to assassinate the Lebanese people during the 2006 July war."
In the city's Shiite southern suburbs, Hizbullah held the funeral of Imad Mughnieh, one of its top commanders killed in a car bombing on Tuesday night which the Shiite movement blamed on Israel. Tel Aviv denied responsibility although politicians welcomed his death and a US State Department spokesman said the world would be "a better place" without him.
During the ceremony, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivered a recorded speach, vowing that "we will proceed with the resistance until total victory is achieved." According to him, the "Zionists killed Mughnieh in Damascus outside the confrontation terrain ... if you want this kind of open war, let the whole world hear it, let it be open war."
"Let the Israelis hear me well: In any war, you wouldn't face one Imad Mughnieh, but tens of thousands of Imad Mughniehs," Nasrallah said. He stressed that Mughnieh's martyrdom is a further incentive to proceed with Jihad against Israel.
Nasrallah stressed the enemy committed a big stupid mistake by killing Mughnieh, and added the blood of Imad Mughnieh would bring Israel's end.
