BEIRUT, 9 March 2005 — About half a million protesters thundered loud support yesterday as the leader of Hezbollah told the United States to stop interfering in Lebanon and denounced a UN resolution demanding the withdrawal of Syria’s army and the disarming of militias.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also warned Washington against any military action to achieve its goals. “The fleets came in the past and were defeated. They will be defeated again,” he said to the cheers of supporters wildly waving Lebanon’s cedar-tree flag.

Two huge vertical banners at the front of the square read, in English: “Thank you Syria” and “No to foreign interference,” a reference to American, French and United Nations pressure to force Syrian troops out of the country.

There were no independent estimates of the crowds, but at least 500,000 people crowded the square and nearby streets. Many more were still coming, answering Nasrallah’s call to demonstrate against US-led intervention and counter three weeks of anti-Syrian rallies, including one the day before attended by at least 70,000 people.

Nasrallah apologized to Syria for the anti-Syrian protests. He said he supported the agreement reached Monday between Lebanon and Syria on the gradual withdrawal of the Syrian Army in line with the 1989 Taif Accord. But he rejected UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the withdrawal of Syria’s 14,000 troops and dismantling of militias.

Hezbollah has described the resolution as Israeli-inspired. The group refuses to disarm, saying it is a legitimate resistance movement against Israeli occupation, a view shared by the Lebanese government.

Syria, faced with incessant international pressure and raging Lebanese opposition, announced Monday it would pull its troops to Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley by March 31, and then later to the Syrian border. The agreement between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud did not give a timeline for full withdrawal, nor did it say whether Syrian intelligence would also leave, a key demand of the Lebanese opposition.

A Syrian official in Damascus who did not want to be named said yesterday that Syrian intelligence agents in Lebanon would be pulled back along with the regular army. Syrian intelligence agents have been the source of resentment for many and their departure is a demand of the Lebanese opposition and the United States.

Lebanese Defense Minister Abdurahim Murad announced late yesterday that some 6,000 Syrian troops began redeploying toward the eastern Bekaa Valley in an operation that is to last a week to 10 days.

The joint Lebanese-Syrian military committee will meet later to decide how many of the troops remain in the Bekaa, and for how long, Murad said.

The huge Beirut rally failed to impress US President George W. Bush. He demanded Syria pull troops out of Lebanon before Lebanese parliamentary elections in May and give way to a democracy movement providing hope in the broader Middle East.

“The Lebanese people have the right to determine their future free from domination by a foreign power. The Lebanese people have the right to choose their own Parliament this spring free of intimidation,” Bush said.

Bush did not mention the pro-Syrian rally but White House spokesman Scott McClellan said it did not change US demands.

Bush said Syria must “end its nearly 30-year occupation of Lebanon or become even more isolated from the world.” He dismissed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s pledge to shift Syrian troops to eastern Lebanon as a delaying tactic and half measure.

Druze opposition leader Walid Jumblatt called for dialogue with Hezbollah on the future of Lebanon, expressing hope that the group would help build an “independent Lebanon.” “It’s necessary to have a dialogue with Hezbollah, and we wish they would join us in building up the independence of Lebanon, a democratic Lebanon,” Jumblatt told reporters after meeting German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.