Lebanon opposition calls for another mass demo Sunday; open sit-in enters sixth day

Al-Manar

"The Lebanese National Opposition has called for another mass demonstration on Sunday before resorting to "other means" to bring down the Western-backed government of Fouad Saniora. "We call on the Lebanese to participate en masse in a demonstration Sunday in central Beirut at 3 pm (1300 GMT) in the hope that this will be an historic day on which our voices are heard," the opposition said in a statement. It also asked the Lebanese to "be ready for other forms and means of peaceful protest" to obtain the fall of the government. Meanwhile, tens of thousands have been holding a rally and open sit-in near the government's offices in central Beirut for the past six days. Key opposition figures vowed no end to their campaign to topple the government. Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri told Lebanese As-Safir newspaper that the street protests will continue, but urged calm .Berri appealed for calm and warned that "if some have not learned from past discords in Lebanon and want to take back the country to what it was 16 years ago, let them bear the responsibility. And the head of the Free Patriotic Movement MP General Michel Aoun warned that the Lebanese opposition will escalate its street protests if the Western-backed government of Fouad Saniora fails to accept demands for a unity cabinet. "If the prime minister and his camp continue to monopolize power, there will be an escalation of popular pressure," Aoun said. "We will paralyze the government; we will force it to go into a deep coma.""