Shias call for pro-Damascus protests in Beirut
Brian Whitaker in Beirut
Monday March 7, 2005
The Guardian
Hizbullah stepped dramatically into the Lebanese-Syrian crisis yesterday by calling a demonstration in support of Syria and raising the fear that a withdrawal of Syrian troops might not go smoothly.
The militant Lebanese Shia organisation, which is backed by Syria and Iran, said it planned to hold a mass demonstration tomorrow near the square where anti-Syrian protesters have been camped since the assassination of the former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri last month.
Until now Lebanon's Shia minority and their political organisations have stayed on the sidelines of arguments about the presence of 14,000 Syrian troops and intelligence officers.
Some observers had argued that Hizbullah's political interests would be best served by keeping quiet, because of the widespread unpopularity of Syrian influence in the country, but yesterday its leader, Hassan Nasrallah joined the fray.
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