A crowd of 500,000 flag-waving Lebanese packed a square in central Beirut today to mark the first anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The turnout, reminiscent of huge protests after the February 14th, 2005, murder looked set to give fresh impetus to the country's anti-Syrian coalition that dominates the government after winning a general election in May and June.
Jacques Chirac
The coalition of Sunni Muslim, Christian and Druze political forces, which called the rally, is demanding to know the truth about Mr Hariri's assassination, which it blames on Damascus, and the resignation of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.
"We miss you," read large posters of Mr Hariri. "They feared you, so they killed you," others said. "He lived Lebanon and died for its sake," a black banner read.
Shia Muslims, led by Syrian and Iranian ally Hizbullah, largely stayed away from the rally.
Thousands of Lebanese soldiers and police were deployed in Beirut and its suburbs as people converged from across Lebanon on Martyrs' Square in downtown Beirut, where Mr Hariri is buried.
A United Nations inquiry has implicated senior Syrian security officials and their Lebanese allies. Damascus denies any role. Four pro-Syrian generals have been detained and charged with roles in the murder, but no indictments have yet been issued.
The killing of Mr Hariri, a billionaire construction tycoon and prime minister for 10 years between 1992 and 2004, galvanised international sympathy and support for Lebanon and piled pressure on Syria.
One of Mr Hariri's personal friends was French President Jacques Chirac, the driving force behind several UN Security Council resolutions on Lebanon and the Hariri investigation.
"I can tell you that the international community's determination to find and punish the guilty, on the one hand, and to give Lebanon all the means for independence, security, democracy and freedom, on the other hand, has not moved at all," Mr Chirac said on the eve of the anniversary.