Assad is back as the People power rally in Damascus

The Tens thousands of Syrians jammed the centre of Damascus yesterday in a rally which was organized by the government in support of President Bashar al-Assad, who is under the strong international pressure to withdraw the troops from Lebanon.

The demonstration was the part of a series of steps Mr. Assad has been taking to try to break out of the siege Syria has been placed under the recent weeks by the America and other big powers, including Britain and France.

Mr. Assad gave an ambiguous pledge last weekend to pull 14,000 soldiers out of Syria’s western neighbour, but so far his troops have merely moved east to the Beka’a valley. One of the things that people don’t understand is that Syrian influence is heavy-handed through the involvement of its intelligence services throughout the government. And they must remove both, in order for the election to be free and we’re working with friends and allies about steps forward,” Bush said. Bush also says the US is consulting allies about possible steps if Damascus refuses complete the promised withdrawal. The 70-year-old Mr. Karami resigned on February 28 amid mass protests over the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Opposition lawmakers, who hold about a third of the seats in the 128-member parliament, are not proposing a candidate for prime minister. Instead, they have a list of demands including an international investigation into the Hariri killing, which they blame on Syria. Damascus denies involvement. One opposition member of parliament and leader of the Christian community, Samir Frangie, is dismissive of President Lahoud. “Lahoud, at the end, is a Syrian creation. He has nothing to do with the reality of our society,” he said.