Last update - 00:00 29/11/2006
Hezbollah to protest in Beirut to demand resignation of cabinet
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent
Pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies will stage a large protest in Beirut within the next 48 hours to demand the resignation of Lebanon's Western-backed government, a senior political source said on Wednesday.
Several Lebanese leaders have warned that any widescale protests could disintegrate into street violence, deepening the political crisis and pushing Lebanon towards chaos amid escalating sectarian tensions.
"The decision to take to the streets has been taken and there will be a large demonstration in Beirut within 48 hours," the source, who is close to the opposition, said. "There will be an announcement with the details later."
The source said the decision had been agreed by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - both Shi'ite Muslims -and Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun.
Hezbollah and its allies have said they would take to the streets to try to topple the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora after the anti-Syrian majority coalition rejected their demands for a decisive say in government, which subsequently led six pro-Syrian ministers to quit the cabinet.
Lebanese army commander General Michel Suleiman told soldiers to take no sides in the political rift and urged them to be prepared to preserve freedom of expression, stop riots and attacks on public and private properties.
"The army commander ... called on them [soldiers] to keep the same distance from everybody and to preserve the security of all citizens, including the opposition and loyalists," a military statement said.
Hundreds of soldiers and police have been deployed in the streets of Beirut since the November 21 assassination of anti-Syrian cabinet minister Pierre Gemayel.
Syria said to have planned to kill 36 senior Lebanese officials
A Beirut newspaper reported Wednesday that Lebanese authorities have seized two Syrian agents who planned to assassinate 36 senior Lebanese officials.
The Al Mustakbal newspaper said that Syria has sent some 200 pro-Damascus militants to the Palestinian refugee camps Al-Badwaii and Borge Al-Baragna in Lebanon. The militants were prepared to carry out instructions sent them from Syria, the report continued.
Two of the terrorists, carrying Syrian passports, were arrested recently and admitted working under orders of Syrian intelligence. According to the report, the two said they were working for Abu Khaled El Amalah, the number two man in Fatah Intifada, a pro-Syrian Palestinian armed group.
This is the first time an official report has announced the capture of a Syrian group working in Lebanon. If correct, it confirms UN accounts that Syria has remained active in Lebanon despite its troop withdrawal, using members of terror organizations loyal to it, and continual smuggling of weaponry.
According to the same report, the Syrians were receiving from a Syrian agent in Lebanon, identified as Mahmud Kolagasi.
The arrests came after news emerged this week of a rift in the radical Fatah al-Intifadah organization, also known as the Abu Musa Faction.
According to reports, members have formed a new branch called Fatah al-Islam, and are currently active in the refugee camps in Lebanon.
Fatah al-Intifidah announced Tuesday that it is disassociating itself from the new branch, calling it is a break-away wing belonging to the worldwide Al Qaida movement.