Pro-Syria voices push back

In Washington Tuesday, Mr. Bush demanded once again that Syria remove its troops from Lebanon and allow free elections. "All Syrian military forces and intelligence personnel must withdraw before the Lebanese elections for these elections to be free and fair.... Freedom will prevail in Lebanon," Bush said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington.

As Bush spoke, the crowds in Beirut chanted "Beirut is free, America out" a few hundred yards from Martyrs' Square, the scene of daily anti-Syrian demonstrations.

They carried pictures of President Assad and banners reading, "No to 1559, Yes to Resistance," as well as Lebanese national flags. Not a single Hizbullah flag could be spotted, underlining the party's effort to portray the event as a national gathering rather than a political rally.

Hizbullah is maneuvering to ensure that Lebanon stays within the pro-Syria, anti-Israel, anti-American orbit as symbolized by the Taif Accord, analysts say. It regards Resolution 1559's call for the dismantling of Hizbullah's military as a threat to the organization and risks opening up Lebanon to unwanted Western political influence.

"Resolution 1559 contradicts the principles of the Lebanese ... We believe it is extremely dangerous to Taif," says Mustafa Haj Ali, a member of Hizbullah's political council.

Hizbullah employed its organizational skills to transport thousands of party supporters from south Lebanon to Beirut. Although the crowd dwarfed the recent anti-Syrian rallies, adding to the protest were thousands of Syrians bused in across the border overnight. Lebanon's Future TV station, which was owned by Hariri and leads anti-Syrian media coverage, interviewed several Syrians, asking why they were attending the rally. "We are here to support our Lebanese brothers and to support President Assad," said one Syrian.

The sight of Syrians helping make up the numbers for what was billed as a Lebanese demonstration will not have gone unnoticed by the opposition here and undermined the nationalist message conveyed by Hizbullah, some say.

"This is a dark moment for Hizbullah," says Michael Young, a Lebanese political analyst who sympathizes with the Lebanese opposition. "They are being used by Syria as enforcers. They can claim as much as they want that it's not against the opposition, but in reality its being perceived as a threat."

But other analysts saw the rally as a tactical maneuver by Hizbullah as political factions begin to vie for positions after Syrian withdrawal.

"We are just at the stage now where people are beginning to put their cards on the table," says Rami Khouri, editor at large for Beirut's English-language Daily Star newspaper. "The first three weeks were dominated by the opposition because of the emotional high and the real anger that was expressed.... We will find out in the next 10 days or two weeks the real balance of forces here."

• Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.

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