Siniora: Hezbollah's Fri. protest endangers Lebanon democracy

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora warned on Thursday that Lebanon's democracy is in danger after Hezbollah's call for protests to bring down his government.

"Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger," Saniora said in a nationally televised address from his office on the eve of an expected massive protest by Hezbollah and its allies aimed at ousting his Cabinet.

"Do not be afraid and do not despair. We have a rightful cause," he said. "Threats will not deter us. Maneuvers and ultimatums will not terrorize us."

Earlier on Thursday, Nasrallah said that Lebanon's Western-backed government had failed, and called for peaceful protests to force it to resign.

Nasrallah said Siniora's government "has proven it is incompetent and has failed to fulfill its promises and achieve anything significant," he said in a televised address broadcast on Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar.

Hezbollah-led opposition groups have also called for mass protests to begin Friday in downtown Beirut with the aim of bringing down government.

The call for peaceful street action came in a statement broadcast Thursday on the television stations of Hezbollah and other opposition groups. It said the street action would begin on Friday at 3 P.M. in downtown Beirut, where the embattled Siniora government has its offices.

The prime minister and members of his Cabinet have been bracing for mass demonstrations for days. The security forces have deployed troops, barbed wire and armored vehicles outside the main government office complex, where the prime minister and some ministers have been sleeping in a guest house.

The call for protests came after weeks of political tension between pro-Syrian groups in the opposition, led by the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, and anti-Syrian factions supporting the government, which has wide Western backing.

The opposition "calls on all the Lebanese of all sects and parties... to gather peacefully and stage an open-ended sit-in to protest the absence of real political participation and to demand a national unity government, whose priority is to decide a new election law," the statement said.

The statement did not say where the protesters should assemble, but it said they should carry only the Lebanese flag and avoid party banners and posters.

Although the statement said the protest would be peaceful, any attempt by demonstrators to take over government buildings could lead to violence. Previously groups that support Siniora's government have vowed to call counter demonstrations.

Lebanese Army Commander Michel Suleiman was quoted Thursday as having told his troops to be fully prepared to fulfil their role of "protecting freedom of expression and preventing riots and attacks on public and private property."

Suleiman ordered soldiers to "keep the same distance from everyone and safeguard the security of all citizens, including the pro- and anti-government parties," several newspapers reported. He also said they should "not to hesitate in intervening to prevent clashes between the two sides."

Hezbollah, emboldened by its performance in its summer war with Israel, has been pushing for a bigger share of the Cabinet, demanding that it and its allies acquire sufficient seats to veto decisions.

But the anti-Syrian majority in parliament, which backs Siniora, has rejected Hezbollah's demands, prompting the resignation of a quarter of the Cabinet - five Shi'ite Muslims and one Christian - early this month.

Last week, Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburban Beirut street, renewing fears that the political crisis was carrying Lebanon back to the sectarian violence of the 1975-90 civil war.

Subsequently there has been scattered unrest in Christian areas of Beirut and Shi'ite Muslims have rioted in their neighborhoods.

The Cabinet's approval Monday of a draft accord to create a tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 killing of former prime minister Rafik Hariri has widened the rift between anti- and pro-Syrian forces. Hariri's son leads the anti-Syrian bloc, which accuses Damascus of orchestrating the assassination - a charge that Syria has repeatedly denied.

	Lebanese watching Nasrallah's speech in Beirut on Thursday. (AP)