The AP and Fox News are reporting that Lebanese Prime Minister Omar Karami has announced his government's resignation in parliament. No link yet. I'll post as soon as I get one.
UPDATE:
Reuters:
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's Syrian-backed Prime Minister Omar Karami, under popular pressure after the assassination of an ex-prime minister, says his government is resigning.
"Out of concern that the government does not become an obstacle to the good of the country, I announce the resignation of the government I had the honour to lead," Karami told parliament in Beirut on Monday.
Karami made the announcement during a parliamentary debate called to discuss Hariri's Feb. 14 assassination in a bomb blast that killed 16 others. The announcement prompted cheers from more than 25,000 flag-waving demonstrators protesting against the government and its Syrian backers outside.
The resignation was the most dramatic moment yet in the series of protests and political maneuvers that have shaken Lebanon since Hariri's killing.
Many in Lebanon blame Syria for being behind Hariri's slaying and have pressed hard since then for the resignation of the pro-Syrian Lebanese government and for Syria to withdraw its 15,000 troops positioned in Lebanon.
Both governments have denied involvement in Hariri's assassination.
Earlier Monday, Karami asked the legislature to renew its confidence in his Cabinet, which took power in October after Hariri's resignation in a dispute with Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.
UPDATE II:
Goodbye
Prime Minister Omar Karami just did it - he resigned right in front of the Parliament after a lengthy speech introduction in which he complained of personal attacks in the local Lebanese media. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri objected, saying that proper procedure required that Karami notify him first, but it looks like what's done is done.
The government has fallen. And now the fun begins.
From Caveman in Beirut.
The announcement of the government’s resignation came after a day of protests in Martyr’s Square, a few blocks from parliament. The protesters danced to patriotic songs, waved hundreds of Lebanese flags, and handed out red roses to the hundreds of soldiers and police around them.
Led by banking and business associations, much of Lebanon also observed a one-day strike in memory of Hariri on Monday, allowing lawyers in black robes and doctors in white gowns to join the demonstration.
Protesters also prayed in front of candles at the flower-covered grave of Hariri, which lies at the edge of the square.
“You can tell from the looks in the soldiers’ eyes, and from their smiles, their true stand,” said (Marwan) Hamadeh, who was in the square before going to parliament. Hamadeh himself was the target of a bomb attack in October that killed his driver.
Keep in mind that pictures of Beirut are being broadcast on al-Jazeera across the Middle East. People throughout the region are seeing what can be done in the service of freedom.
And here's one:
And we have an American President on record continually saying that he cannot understand why people think that Arabs are incapable of accepting democracy.
Ukraine had orange; Iraq, purple; PLO, green; and now Lebanon has red and white.
Will this be a rainbow I can admire?
Posted by: Maggie | February 28, 2005 at 01:56 PM