Thousands of Lebanese rally for Aoun
(MENAFN- Arab News)BEIRUT: Thousands of Lebanese rallied at the presidential palace outside Beirut on Sunday in a show of support for Christian politician Michel Aoun pressing their demand for him to fill the presidency vacant for over a year.
Waving the orange flag of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) they packed streets in the Baabda district that houses the headquarters of the presidency.
The presidency is set aside for a Maronite Christian but has been unoccupied due to a political crisis stoked by regional conflicts including the war in neighboring Syria.
'The president of the republic shouldn't be just any person who fills the post as some people want him to be' Aoun told the crowd as his supporters shouted 'Aoun for president of the republic!'
'It should be someone who is like you who reflects you and who rejects oppression and stands up for your rights' he said.
The rally was called to mark events in October 1990 near the end of the Lebanese civil war when the Syrian army captured Baabda and many Lebanese soldiers loyal to Aoun were killed. Aoun head of one of two rival administrations at the time was forced out of the presidential palace and later into exile.
Aoun an ally of the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah has made clear he would like the presidency but he lacks the backing of a rival alliance led by politician Saad Al-Hariri.
Waving the orange flag of Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) they packed streets in the Baabda district that houses the headquarters of the presidency.
The presidency is set aside for a Maronite Christian but has been unoccupied due to a political crisis stoked by regional conflicts including the war in neighboring Syria.
'The president of the republic shouldn't be just any person who fills the post as some people want him to be' Aoun told the crowd as his supporters shouted 'Aoun for president of the republic!'
'It should be someone who is like you who reflects you and who rejects oppression and stands up for your rights' he said.
The rally was called to mark events in October 1990 near the end of the Lebanese civil war when the Syrian army captured Baabda and many Lebanese soldiers loyal to Aoun were killed. Aoun head of one of two rival administrations at the time was forced out of the presidential palace and later into exile.
Aoun an ally of the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah has made clear he would like the presidency but he lacks the backing of a rival alliance led by politician Saad Al-Hariri.
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