DAMASCUS, 10 March 2005 — Tens of thousands of loyalist demonstrators flooded the streets and public squares of Damascus yesterday in a sign of thundering support to President Bashar Assad’s historic decision to withdraw Syrian troops from Lebanon, which has picked outgoing pro-Syrian Premier Omar Karami to head a new government.

Called, for the first time by nongovernmental organizations in Syria, the demonstration came a day after an estimated 1.6 million people crowded in Beirut to “thank Syria for its sacrifices in Lebanon and for its brave national and regional stands.”

Participants in both rallies chanted slogans thanking Bashar for his “heroic stands” and calling for the US to stop meddling in the internal affairs of Syria and Lebanon. They also rejected a UN resolution calling for full withdrawal of the Syrian forces in Lebanon and disarming Lebanese and Palestinian militias.

Dr. Imad Mustapha, Syrian ambassador to Washington, said that the withdrawal would be completed before the Lebanese parliamentary elections in May, a demand by the White House and Lebanese opposition groups.

“We came here today to express our gratitude to President Bashar Assad for his brave national stand to pull out our troops from Lebanon. He has actually voiced our own concerns and spoken on behalf of all Syrians,” said Najwa Hamad, a university student who attended yesterday’s rally in Damascus.

Demonstrators first gathered in front of Al-Jala’a Hotel on Mazzah Highway in the afternoon. Then, they proceeded to the Ummayyed Square before heading through the Malki Street to the Rawdha presidential palace where Bashar made a surprise appearance on the balcony to greet the loyalists

“What is significant about today’s rally is the fact that it is the first time Syrian NGOs are allowed to organize such public gatherings, which are usually taken care of by members of the ruling Baath party,” said Hamidi Al-Abdullah, a Syrian journalist.

A huge banner carried by a group of demonstrators read: “Withdrawing our troops from Lebanon is the biggest national Syrian interest.” Another one read: “All Syrians are Bashar Al-Assad.”

“We are here also to return greetings to those millions of brethren who demonstrated in Beirut yesterday to thank Syria and convey their strongest message to the entire world that the majority in Lebanon support Syria and only a very small minority agree on the Israeli and US schemes to divide the peoples of Syria and Lebanon,” said Saeed Radwan, a farmer who came from a remote village in Damascus province to take part in yesterday’s rally.

In Beirut, outgoing Premier Karami was chosen yesterday to head a new government less than 10 days after he quit in the face of massive opposition protests against the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Sixty-nine of the 78 MPs consulted by pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud picked Karami, a longtime political rival of Hariri who was assassinated in a central Beirut bomb blast on Feb. 14.

Under the Lebanese constitution, the president consults with Parliament and must name as prime minister the candidate with the most support among MPs. The opposition, which has blamed Hariri’s murder on the regime and its political masters in Damascus, did not put forward its own candidate.

An official decree is expected to designate Karami after a meeting between Lahoud and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri today, a senior Lebanese official said.

— With input from agencies