Student demonstration in Beirut brands Assad “assassin”

 

University students demonstrated in Beirut on Saturday, tearing up pictures of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad and branding him an “assassin” as he chaired the 20th Arab Summit, boycotted by Lebanon.

 

Hundreds of students joined the protest near the central Beirut tomb of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri who was killed in a massive car bombing in 2005 blamed on Syria.

 

Damascus denied any involvement.

 

The demonstrators accused Assad of blocking the election of a new president in Lebanon, and trampled on two huge portraits of the Syrian leader before tearing them to shreds, a photographer said.

 

The pictures bore captions in French, English and Arabic branding Assad an “assassin” and saying that the UN-backed special tribunal tasked with trying suspects in the Hariri “is coming.”

 

The protest was attended by supporters the Lebanese government and the parliamentary ruling majority.

On Friday Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his government had decided to boycott the Arab summit in Damascus, and blamed Syria for meddling in his country”s affairs.

 

But Assad denied interfering in Lebanon as he opened the annual gathering of Arab leaders on Saturday, saying he was eager to see “the stability, sovereignty and independence” of Lebanon.

 

The summit is marked by the absence of half the leaders of the Arab world, notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan who blame Syria for the crisis gripping Lebanon, which has been without a head of state since November.

 

On Friday a UN report said that a “criminal network” of individuals acted together to murder Hariri, insisting that suspects would be named only when there was sufficient evidence to do so.