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American Morning
Huge Demonstration Taking Place Outside American Embassy in Lebanon
Aired April 03, 2002 - 08:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We have some breaking news to share with you right now. A huge demonstration is taking place outside the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon. Live on the phone with us right now is a Lebanese reporter for the Future TV network, Muhalhel Fakih. You have colleagues on the ground in this demonstration. What is going on?
MUHALHEL FAKIH, REPORTER, FUTURE TV: Well, Paula, what we heard is about 5,000 to 6,000, mainly students, trying to push their way past the security barricades, past security forces who are protecting the U.S. embassy. Now the U.S. embassy has always been very well fortified in this area, in a Beirut (UNINTELLIGIBLE), just about Beirut, and we do have reports that -- and these are unconfirmed reports, I should point out, that about five to six people were injured in the clashes.
ZAHN: But all we could glean from reports we've seen this morning, that this is a protest against U.S. support for Israel?
FAKIH: Yes, well, this has been going on for six straight days in Beirut, just like most Arab capitals. Many here believe the U.S. should hold Iraq directly responsible for what's going on in the occupied West Bank and Ramallah and Bethlehem. People here are enraged. There was a demonstration in downtown Beirut. You had Christian and Muslim clerics take part in it. Thousands of people attended that demonstration, and they were clearly opposing U.S. policy in the region and holding it responsible for what's happening.
ZAHN: So what kind of strategy is the Lebanese government using right now to try to quell these demonstrations?
FAKIH: Well, you know, Lebanon, there was a special emergency parliament session in Lebanon today, where parliament and the cabinet discussed what's going on, and they also warned the U.S. that -- officials here have been warning the U.S. against full support and public backing for the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. But they also told people and they also said, there shouldn't be immediate and rash reactions to what's happening, that they should give officials time to examine what's happening, and to hold contacts with allies in the region, with Europe, and with the U.S. administration to come up with the strategy that would diffuse the tensions and the escalation of violence.
ZAHN: Now, is it true that most of these men in the crowd are students in Lebanon?
FAKIH: Yes, they're mostly students, Paula. Just yesterday, thousands of students also across campuses and universities, including the American University of Beirut. They did not attend -- students did not attend classes. They held demonstrations, rallies. They denounced the Israeli attacks on the Palestinian areas, and they also denounced U.S. policies there.
ZAHN: All right, you talked about their denunciation of U.S. policy and Israeli policy. Is there any recognition on their part that the suicide bombings are any problem at all?
FAKIH: Well, either way, what people have been saying here -- what we've been hearing people tell us was that the suicide bombings, they believe, are a direct result of the occupation. They say it was Israel which besieged these areas, Israel was provoking these suicide bombings, and the only way to end it, just like the officials line here, that the occupation must end.
ZAHN: What did they say about Arafat?
FAKIH: It has always been rocky at times. Just in the past decade, he was not a very well liked figure here after he made the 1993 Oslo peace accords with Israel. Many people here believed he went astray, that he made Lebanon a weaker party to the peace process by unilaterally signing peace accords with Israel. But since President Arafat was held incommunicado, many people refer to him as held incommunicado by Israel, many here see him as a hero again.
And just in downtown Beirut, who were there today for the massive demonstration in downtown Beirut, they were holding portraits of Arafat, and he's again seen as a hero here.
ZAHN: As you look at these pictures, it would seem it would almost be a miracle that only five people have only been injured so far. Is that the extent of the effect of this?
FAKIH: As I did point out, Paula, we do not have any confirmation on the amounts of people who were injured. As I said, one report even said dozens have been injured. So that figure cannot be confirmed as of yet. We have no hospital sources as of yet to confirm the figure.
ZAHN: All right, Muhalhel Fakih, thank you very much for bringing us up to date on what appears to be a very dangerous situation working in Beirut right now.
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