Hezbollah backers aim to oust Lebanese govt

Hezbollah officials said their campaign, which has disrupted life in the capital's commercial district, will not stop until their demand for a national unity government is fulfilled. But the government showed no sign of backing down in a confrontation that has the potential to turn violent.

The street action has been largely peaceful so far. On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Hezbollah supporters flooded downtown Beirut chanting nationalist slogans and songs just outside the main government offices. Barbed wire and armoured vehicles separated the demonstrators from government headquarters where Prime Minister Saniora and some of his ministers have hunkered down.

Following the demonstration, participants set up hundreds of white tents across the downtown area a dozen of so just 50 yards from Saniora's offices.

Hezbollah's Al-Manar television station said about 500 tents were pitched in central Beirut.

On Saturday, the demonstrators kept up the noisy, carnival-like protests with occasional shouts of "Saniora out!"

Hezbollah supporters set up water tanks and portable latrines and distributed sandwiches, tea and coffee to those camped out. Young men sprawled lazily on mats in and outside their white tents under the bright, warm sun. Some read newspapers, others smoked waterpipes. Dozens of white-capped Hezbollah workers swept the streets, littered with left-over food and drink from the night before.

"Yesterday's demonstration was just the beginning. There are a lot of other surprises on the way," said Ali Ammar, an 18-year-old who had just woken up. "This government lost the trust of the people a long time ago, and we will not stop until it goes," the information technology student added.