Sweet:

BEIRUT, 19 February 2005 ???????? The opposition parties in Lebanon declared an ???????uprising for independence??????? yesterday and called for the pro-Syrian government to step down so that a new government can be formed to oversee a Syrian military pullout. This escalated a war of words following former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri????????s assassination on Monday.

In another significant development, Syrian President Bashar Assad named his brother-in-law, Maj. Gen. Asef Shawkat, as head of military intelligence to replace retiring Maj. Gen. Hassan Khalil. Syrian sources said the change took effect on Monday, Khalil????????s 60th birthday.

Meanwhile, Leabanese opposition leader Samir Frangieh said: ???????In response to the criminal and terrorist policy of the Lebanese and Syrian authorities, the Lebanese opposition declares the democratic and peaceful intifada (uprising) for independence.???????

???????We demand the departure of the illegitimate regime,??????? Frangieh said, reading a final statement at the home of Druze leader Walid Jumblatt after an opposition meeting in a Beirut hotel.

Jumblatt did not attend the meeting for ???????security reasons,??????? aides said.

The meeting was attended by more than 40 of the Parliament????????s 128 members, as well as dozens of political activists.

The opposition called for ???????the formation of an interim government as a supreme national necessity to protect the Lebanese people and ensure the immediate and complete pullout of Syrian forces from Lebanon ahead of free and honest legislative elections.???????

They also declared ???????the suspension of any political or legal debate in Parliament before the truth is uncovered.???????

For the rest of what I’ve posted on Lebanon, go here. Hat tip to the irreverant InstaPundit.