Hundreds of thousands of protesters organized by the militant group Hezbollah and its allies rallied outside the downtown Beirut office of Lebanon's prime minister on Friday, calling for his resignation in what's being called "the great showdown."

Protesters, pushing for a unity government that would give them greater input, waved Lebanese flags while Fuad Saniora stayed in his office, and hundreds of police and combat troops guarded the building.

"Saniora out! We want a free government!" protesters chanted through loudspeakers.

Police estimated the crowd at about 800,000, while Hezbollah said it believed the number was closer to one million — one-quarter of Lebanon's population.

Lebanese Hezbollah supporters shout anti-government slogans in Beirut as they wave flags during a demonstration to force the resignation of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
(Hussein Malla/Associated Press)

"It's an incredible scene here," CBC's Nahlah Ayed reported from Beirut. "It's an incredible show of force actually. This is the opposition essentially flexing its muscles. They are all here with the same aim and that is to topple the government."

The protest is expected to last for days, which could affect the delivery of government services. Ayed said there are fears it could lead to violence if the demands aren't met.

The crowd cheered loudly when it heard Hezbollah revolutionary and nationalist songs. One placard read: "We want a clean government," which has become the motto of the opposition.

Protesters bused in

Opposition groups bused supporters from across Lebanon to the demonstration, billed by some newspapers as the "great showdown." They also gave free gasoline coupons to people in areas far from the capital.

Hundreds of heavily armed police and combat troops set up barbed wire and barricades around the prime minister's office earlier in the day in anticipation of huge crowds. Police also closed off roads leading to the prime minister's headquarters.

The heavy security, which included 16 armoured personnel carriers, came amid fears the protests could led to street fighting, or that Hezbollah supporters could try to storm Saniora's offices.

But Hezbollah security forces were trying to control the crowd to prevent fighting, with the group's staff forming two lines to separate the protesters and government security forces.

In a campaign to force Lebanon's U.S.-backed government from office, Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies had called on supporters on Thursday to demonstrate in the capital. Hezbollah has said it wants the demonstration to be followed by days of protest.

Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, had called on protesters to carry the national flag, which is red and white, with the historic Cedar tree in the middle. Nasrallah also said he wanted the protest to be peaceful.

Hezbollah had threatened to mobilize thousands of people unless the group and its allies obtained a veto-wielding share of the cabinet — a demand that Saniora and the anti-Syrian parties have rejected.

Lebanese leader holds firm

Saniora is showing no signs that he is interested in stepping down. On Thursday night, he said on national television his government would stay: "Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger."

Mohamed Chatah, a senior adviser to the prime minister, told CBC News on Friday that Saniora, an elected official, is doing his job, and it's important to remember the government was put in place by a democratic process.

"We're not going to begin the new Lebanon by having demonstrators in the street deciding rather than democracy," he said. "It's ludicrous to expect the government to simply give up power to the opposition simply because people are putting up tents.

"There are hundreds of thousands who would be willing to go out to the streets and support democracy. It's not a country where we can change governments by going to the street and looking at who's louder. This is very costly, it's undemocratic, and the government is not going to succumb to these kinds of intimidations."

But Nawar Sahili, a Hezbollah member of parliament, told CBC News that the protest will only end when the prime minister resigns, and the thousands in the streets are the "real majority" in Lebanon who want "real power" inside the government.

"We will stay on the street until we hear Mr. Saniora saying that he will resign from his post and he is ready to form a new government with other parties and his party also," Sahili said.

He said the protest is a sign that dialogue between the government and the opposition in Lebanon is not working. "They don't want to share. They don't want to discuss. They only want to stay in power," he said. "We have tried all sorts of dialogue before."

Hezbollah and its allies have put up tents to allow the protesters to sleep overnight in the capital. 

Power struggle emerging?

According to Ayed, the protest could turn into a power struggle between factions that support Syria and factions opposed to its influence in the divided country.

She said the opposition believes the government is too close to the West and did not support Hezbollah in the summer war between the militant group and Israeli forces that shattered parts of Lebanon, particularly in the south.

The government, meanwhile, has been weakened by assassinations and resignations, and government supporters and opposition groups have different visions of the kind of Lebanon they would like to see.

Government supporters have long accused Syria of supporting Hezbollah in a bid to regain its lost influence in its smaller neighbour. Hezbollah and its allies, in turn, say the country has fallen under U.S. control and that they have lost their share of political power that they believe belongs to them.

The U.S. has made Lebanon a priority in its attempts to rein in Syria and its ally Iran. U.S. President George W. Bush warned earlier this week that the two countries were trying to destabilize Lebanon.

Tensions have escalated in Lebanon after a series of assassinations over the past two years. In the most recent killing, a prominent Christian cabinet minister was gunned down last month. Former prime minister Rafik Hariri was killed in a February 2005 bomb blast.

With files from the Associated Press