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Lebanese mix grief, rage as former leader buried

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese marched through the streets of the capital Wednesday to the edge of Martyrs Square, where they buried former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in a raucous ceremony that reflected uncharacteristic unity and deep anger toward those they blame for his assassination, the governments of Lebanon and Syria.

Carrying banners reading "Syria Out" and "Hey Syria - Who's Next?" throngs of Lebanese chanted and sobbed as Hariri's casket was borne by ambulance through miles of empty streets, then on shoulders into the enormous al-Amine Mosque. The banners of political parties that were once fierce rivals bounced along together in the flow of people.

The signs of religious and political unity in a country still haunted by its 15-year sectarian war were evident in almost every aspect of the day. The bells of St. George Cathedral, a Maronite Christian church next to the mosque, tolled for hours. No one could remember such a tribute after the death of a Sunni Muslim, Hariri's religious affiliation.

"The Syrians made all of this possible," said Mardiros Nigolian, 71, an Armenian Christian who joined the gathering outside the mosque to pay his respects. "What was said in low voices for months is now being said at a very high volume."

Syria maintains 15,000 troops in Lebanon, a legacy from the earliest days of this country's 1975-90 civil war, and exerted its decisive political influence here last year to extend the term of Lebanese President Emile Lahoud. Many Lebanese have blamed Syria and its allies in the Lebanese security services for Hariri's death Monday in an apparent suicide bombing.

Syria has denied any involvement in the murder of Hariri, who in recent months emerged as an important opponent of Syrian influence here.

France has joined the Lebanese political opposition in calling for an international investigation to determine who was responsible for the attack, which killed 13 other people and wounded more than 100.

Hariri's assassination has brought together Lebanon's famously antagonistic political factions in a way no other event had since the end of its civil war 15 years ago. His death has galvanized the opposition at a time when the country is preparing for parliamentary elections that could begin as early as April. Hariri, 60, was believed to have been planning a comeback as prime minister and had moved closer to the collection of Christian, Druze and other sectarian parties that largely form the opposition to the Lebanese government, now run by men with strong loyalties to Syria.

"When you lose your country, how do you feel?" Talal Salim, 51, who owns an electronics store in downtown Beirut, said as he watched the funeral procession. "To calm the people now, this government must do something very big to make sure we live in freedom. But we know they take their orders from outside the country."

The day started with a gathering at Koreitem, Hariri's hillside mansion, which has been an open house for mourners since the assassination. Thousands of marchers lined up outside, while inside people prayed over his flag-draped casket.

A few former Cabinet ministers filtered through the crowd, but none from the current government. Opposition leaders had warned that no government officials would be welcome.

The United States was represented by Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, the senior U.S. diplomat for the Middle East. He told reporters that Hariri's death "must give renewed impetus to achieving a free, independent and sovereign Lebanon" and called on Syria to remove its troops immediately.

Filing down the hill toward Martyrs Square, at the heart of the postwar renovation of downtown Beirut that Hariri spearheaded, the marchers surged through tens of thousands of people already gathered in front of the mosque.

"We have all come to say something to the world," said Sylvia Kayrouz, 38, an Armenian Christian. "Christians, Druze, Sunnis - all of them here. I've never seen anything like it."

[Last modified February 17, 2005, 01:22:08]