Syrians protest Hariri report en masse
(AP)
Updated: 2005-10-25 08:58

"Mr. Mehlis: we are not murderers," read one banner. "Syria will never be another Iraq," said another in central Damascus' Sabe Bahrat Square, where the crowd chanted: "With our soul and our blood, we redeem you, Bashar!"

Many demonstrators waved large posters of the Syrian president and his father, the late President Hafez Assad.

The government gave students a one-day holiday and encouraged civil servants to take part in the rallies, which were organized by state-run labor unions. Police diverted traffic to make way for the protesters.

Addressing the Damascus crowd from a balcony, a speaker said: "The masses of our people stand united in Arab Damascus today to condemn Mehlis' report and to declare their absolute rejection of the continuing U.S. threats against Syria. These threats have been stepped up since the occupation of Iraq."

State newspapers published editorials condemning the U.N. report, which found Hariri's assassination could not have been carried out without the complicity of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.

Demonstrator Linda Taha, 30, a civil servant, said Syria had nothing to do with Hariri's death.

"The report is politicized in accord with U.S. and Israeli desires to pressure Syria and undermine its steadfastness," Taha said.

Syrian Christian and Muslim clergymen also handed a letter to the French, U.N. and Vatican envoys in Damascus rejecting the "unjustified accusations and false fabrications" against Syria in the U.N. report, SANA said.

Syrians chant slogans during a protest in Damascus October 24, 2005.[Reuters]

Syria's government has long argued that it is being attacked by the West because of its uncompromising stand in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and Israel's occupation of Arab land.

On Sunday, Rice and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw jointly urged the Security Council to take a strong position against Syria.

Asked Monday if sanctions would be considered against Syria, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told Sky News: "I don't think you rule anything out going forward."

"You can't get any more serious than trying to destroy the democracy of another country by terrorism," he said.

For more than a year, Washington has been increasing pressure on Syria, accusing it of interfering in Lebanon's affairs, allowing insurgents to cross into Iraq and supporting Palestinian militant groups. Syria denies these charges.

Mehlis was scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report at an open meeting Tuesday.

While the United States, France and Britain have strongly supported his findings and are demanding Syrian cooperation, Russia and China have been much more reticent. All five countries have power to veto any action by the council.

"My government is always very cautious with such sensitive issues as Syria-Lebanon," Russia's U.N. ambassador, Andrey Denisov, said Monday in New York.