Lebanon marks death anniversary of Rafik Hariri

Tens of thousands of supporters of Lebanon's majority "March 14" camp flocked into downtown Beirut yesterday for a rally marking the fifth anniversary of the slaying of former premier Rafiq Hariri.

"Five years ago, you came down to this very square to demand justice and freedom ... and we are not turning back," Prime Minister Saad Hariri, son of the slain premier, told the cheering crowd.

Rafiq Hariri's assassination in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005, that also killed 22 other people, saw the rise of a US- and Saudi-backed alliance that became known as March 14.

It was named after a day of massive anti-Syrian protests dubbed the "Cedar Revolution". Hariri died in an explosion that left a 10-foot crater in a Beirut street. A United Nations investigation found links between Syria's government and the assassination, although Syria has denied any connection.

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