Hundreds defy protest ban in Beirut

BEIRUT - Hundreds of anti-Syrian protesters defied a government ban and staged a protest on

Monday in central Beirut before what is set to be a fiery debate in parliament over the killing of Lebanon's ex-prime minister.

A general strike shut down banks, schools and public and private businesses in line with an opposition call to coincide with the debate on Rafik al-Hariri's killing on Feb. 14 - an assassination that for many recalled Lebanon's bitter 1975-90 civil war.

Lebanese soldiers with assault rifles fanned out in central Beirut, putting up metal barricades and barbed wire at road junctions leading to Martyrs Square and stopping people entering the area, witnesses said.

Army checkpoints at roads into Beirut were also turning away cars and buses carrying people heading to the capital to take part in the demonstration.

But the troops took no action against hundreds of demonstrators draped in Lebanese flags who had already gathered overnight to stage a sit-in in Martyrs Square, near Hariri's grave. The number of protesters had dwindled by early morning from thousands.

Protesters demanded the government resign and chanted "Syria out" And "Freedom, sovereignty, independence". Large television screens were set up to allow the protesters to watch live coverage of the parliament session while patriotic songs blared from loudspeakers.

Interior Minister Suleiman Franjieh called on security forces in a statement on Sunday "To take all necessary steps to preserve security and order and prevent demonstrations and gatherings on Monday."

Syria plays a powerbroking role in Lebanon, where it keeps 14,000 troops.

'We are going ahead'

Opposition deputies and many ordinary Lebanese have held Syria and the Lebanese authorities either directly or indirectly responsible for Hariri's death along with 17 other people in a car bombing. Damascus denies any role and has described Hariri's killing as terrorism.

After the Syrian-backed government banned protests, loyalists called off a counter-march in central Beirut against U.S. Deputy Secretary of State David Satterfield's visit to Lebanon as part of growing international pressure for Syria to withdraw its troops.

Clashes between the two groups were feared. An army statement asked the Lebanese people not to gather, particularly in the streets around parliament. Scores of security forces blocked those streets ahead of what is widely expected to be a heated debate.

Opposition figure Walid Jumblatt earlier promised there would be defiance on Monday, two weeks to the day after the killing that shocked Lebanon.

"We are going ahead. They cannot prevent us from going down peacefully, democratically and paying tributes to Rafik al-Hariri on the day of the national parliamentary debate where our main aim is to ask who killed Hariri," he told Reuters.

The opposition pledged last week to call a government no-confidence vote in the session and said security chiefs should be sacked and put on trial.

"I hope all the MPs will stand by their duty, defending the interests of the people in confronting this tyrannical fascist regime, because it's no more than two weeks since Hariri was killed," Jumblatt said.

Lebanon has launched an investigation into the assassination but rejected calls for a full international probe. Figures from across Lebanon's disparate opposition movement have seized on public fury at Hariri's killing to demand that Syria pull out its troops and intelligence services and that the Beirut government it backs resign.