Retired General Michel Aoun, leader of the predominantly Christian Free Patriotic Movement, addressed the crowd from behind a bullet-proof glass shield saying: "I call on the premier and his ministers to resign. We want another Sunni to replace Siniora".

Aoun told the cheering crowd: "Resignation is the only way out".

He criticized some media reports that said participation in the protest by Christians, Sunnis and Druze Muslims was marginal.

Aoun, addressing media organizations, said: "Shame on you to differentiate one sect from another… we've gathered under the Lebanese flag".

However, security sources said most participants in the sit-in drove from the mainly Shiite south Lebanon and the eastern sector, which are traditional strongholds for Hezbollah.

Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir on Thursday criticized street protests, noting that they haven't succeeded in settling any conflict in Lebanon.
Similarly Lebanon’s Mufti Mohammad Rachid Kabbani criticized the street protest to topple the government describing it “ unprecedented and dangerous action”.

Siniora, in a televised address to the nation screened on Thursday evening, vowed that his cabinet would only resign if it lost a vote of confidence at parliament.

The March 14 coalition, which supports Siniora's government, enjoys majority at Lebanon's 128-seat house.

Army troops and armored personnel carriers were heavily deployed around Siniora's offices, where the premier and other cabinet ministers have been residing for over a week after the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

Barbed wire fences as high as two meters were erected around the premises as heavily-armed troops kept demonstrators around 150 meters away.

Meanwhile, organizers set up a chain of tents and makeshift toilets to accommodate the protestors.

In an apparent effort to avoid friction, Hezbollah "disciplinary members" formed a chain separating the protestors from security forces.

Brandishing Lebanese flags and white banners that read: "Down with Feltman's government," in reference to the Siniora cabinet which has been termed by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah the government of U.S. ambassador Jeffrey Feltman.

"We want a national unity government," and "We want a clean government," other banners read.

The protest was launched at 3 p.m., the zero hour set by Nasrallah in a televised statement aired Thursday.

Opposition factions, most of which are backed by Syria and Iran, demand a bigger share in power that would enable them to block decisions by the cabinet that they do not approve.

When protesters glimpsed Siniora appearing briefly on the balcony, they shouted, "Out, out Siniora!"

Parliament member Ali Hassan Khalil, who represents Speaker Nabih Berri's Amal movement, said the sit-in would be called off "only when this government resigns and a national unity government is formed."

Armored vehicles, police and army troops were deployed in several neighborhoods of Beirut while near Siniora's office civil defense trucks equipped with water cannons were also on standby as soldiers kept watch from rooftops.

Organizers distributed flyers calling for the protest to be peaceful, while demonstrators shouted "America get out of Lebanon." and "We want a free, free government."

Top picture: a Hezbollah supporter waives a Lebanese flag in which Hezbollah picture covers the Cedar of Lebanon.

Here are some other protest related pictures.

Hundreds of thousands protested today in downtown Beirut to force the government to resign

A Lebanese boy holds a Lebanese flag on his balcony in a region with anti-Syrian majority in Beirut, Lebanon Friday, Dec. 1, 2006. PM Siniora urged the Lebanese to raise the flag on their balconies in support of the government

Source: Naharnet, Ya Libnan