Lebanese Opposition leader Walid Jumblatt (below) - who has called on Syrian forces to leave - has said 'NO' to UN Resolution 1559.



Jumblatt has told EU Foreign Minister Javier Solana that the withdrawal should be handled under the Taif Accord - the agreement which ended the Civil War - not the UN. Every Lebanese faction has one over-riding priority: peace. Everything else comes second. That's why all the demonstrations (opposition and Hizbollah) share one thing in common: a call for national unity 'wahda wataniyah'.

Jumblatt's call comes a day after Hizbollah organised the largest march in Lebanon's recent history rejecting foreign intervention. Half a million Lebanese attended.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said that Hizbollah should not be disregarded. They're saying 'no to foreign intervention', he said, and that's in the spirit of the UN Resolution. Just because we don't share their views (*glances across to George Bush*) doesn't mean we can ignore them - that's democracy: majority rule.

In a sign that Jumblatt has learnt some of the Hariri diplomatic skills, the Chouf MP called for dialogue with Hizbollah.

Meanwhile, Britain's Independent has claimed that the opposition demos are becoming "increasingly Christian". Over the last decade Christians have organised anti-Syrian demos, but the first time they gained widespread support was after the shocking murder of Hariri - father of post-war Lebanon. But this CNN report implies Christians used the cross and cresent symbols to claim inter-faith support which didn't exist. Which is a shame, because unity of all Lebanon, and freedom (from Syria, America and Israel) is what Lebanon deserves.

And finally, your friend and mine Michel Aoun has claimed that hardly any of yesterday's half a million were Lebanese. Journalists lied about the numbers and the rest...ahh, they're all Palestinians and Syrians. *cough* how can you see that from Paris *cough*.