SHOTLIST

1. Wide shot of tents and protesters outside Lebanese prime minister's (Fuad Saniora) office building

2. Mid shot of prime minister's office

3. Various of protesters in tents

4. Men playing dice

5. Wide shot of tents with the Mohammed al Amine mosque in background

6. Various of protesters and tents

7. Wide shot of courtyard inside prime minister's office

8. Fountain in courtyard

9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese Minister of Information:

"There is a real crisis in the country that should be resolved. It should be solved through political dialogue about all topics, leaving aside the issue of the international tribunal because there has been a consensus about this tribunal, and consequently we should be all working for the establishment of this tribunal. We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country."

10. Wide shot of courtyard

11. Exterior pan of protesters close to Saniora's offices

12. Mid of soldiers seated on army vehicles

13. Mid of Saniora speaking to journalists

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"I have a strong belief in the Lebanese. They have tried all attempts to solve problems in the past through violent ways, through non-peaceful means and it proved to be a failure, so we can't resort to violent ways. It doesn't solve the problem. In Lebanon it does not solve the problem. Don't let anybody waste his time, it will not lead to anything. We have to agree among each other on all the issues."

15. Protesters outside Saniora's offices

STORYLINE

The Lebanese Minister of Information said on Saturday there was a real crisis in the country that should be resolved through political dialogue, at the same time the government should be working towards the establishment of an international tribunal to try the alleged killers of former prime minister Rafik Hariri.

"We should then return to discussing all political issues and reach an agreement. We must reach an agreement, a compromise whereby every party in Lebanon should make the necessary concessions in the interests of the country," Ghazi Aridi added.

Lebanon's Cabinet, headed by anti-Syrian Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, sent the president a draft accord on Monday to establish a tribunal to try the alleged killers of Rafik Hariri.

But President Emile Lahoud, who is pro-Syrian, is expected to decline to endorse the agreement, which would set up a UN-backed court that would sit outside Lebanon.

The tribunal has become a weapon in the battle between on the one hand Lebanon's Hezbollah-aligned factions, supported by Syria, and on the other hand anti-Syrian parties, over demands by Hezbollah and its allies for a third of the Cabinet's seats.

That would give them veto powers.

Aridi's comments came as thousands of Hezbollah supporters camped out in tents in the capital, as the Shiite Muslim guerrilla group and its allies kept up the pressure on the US-backed Saniora government to resign.

Hezbollah officials said their campaign, which has disrupted life in the capital's commercial district, will not stop until their demand for a national unity government is fulfilled.

Barbed wire and armoured vehicles separated the demonstrators from government headquarters where Prime Minister Saniora and some of his ministers have hunkered down.

But the government has shown no sign of backing down in a confrontation that has the potential to turn violent and tear apart the country.

"They have tried all attempts to solve problems in the past through violent ways," Saniora said on Saturday. "Don't let anybody waste his time, it will not lead to anything. We have to agree among each other on all the issues."

So far the street action has remained largely peaceful.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide of skyline

2. Traffic on street

3. Wide of newspaper stand

4. Newspaper headline reading in English: "UN signs deal on Hariri court, raising pressure for ratification"

5. Tilt down on newspapers

6. People reading newspapers

7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Farouk Fehmi, Vox pop:

"I support the international tribunal if it reveals those who killed Prime Minister (Rafik) Hariri, but if it is going to be politically biased I am against it."

8. Policeman directing traffic

9. Set up shot of Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Telecommunications:

"I think it is a very important victory for Lebanon, for its legitimate government and especially for international justice and I think it paves the way for the ratification of the convention and the establishment of the international tribunal."

11. Cutaway of hands

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Marwan Hamadeh, Minister of Telecommunications:

"If, by force or by any other means, the opposition prevents it we will go back to the UN (United Nations) Security Council to have it adopted under Chapter Seven."

13. Wide pan of protesters' tents in downtown Beirut

14. Various exteriors of Lebanese prime minister's office, surrounded by barbed wire

STORYLINE:

Some Lebanese residents on Wednesday welcomed the signing of an agreement by the United Nations to set up an international tribunal to prosecute the suspected killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Last week, Saniora sent a signed copy of the agreement for creating the court to the United Nations. U.N. Undersecretary-General for Legal Affairs Nicolas Michel signed the agreement in New York on Tuesday and returned it to Lebanon for ratification.

"UN signs deal on Hariri court, raising pressure for ratification," hailed the headline in the Lebanese newspaper "The Daily Star".

The tribunal aims to try suspects in the February 14, 2005, assassination of Hariri, who was killed along with 22 other people in a massive truck bomb in downtown Beirut.

Many in Lebanon suspect Syria was behind the killings. Syria has denied involvement.

The tribunal has become a major point of contention in Lebanon's power struggle between the anti-Syrian government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, which supports the creation of the UN-backed court, and pro-Syrian factions, including the Shiite Hezbollah movement.

One resident, Farouk Fehmi, was apprehensive about giving the tribunal his full support.

"I support the international tribunal if it reveals those who killed Prime Minister Hariri, but if it is going to be politically biased I am against it," he said.

Lebanese Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh said that the agreement was "a very important victory for Lebanon, for its legitimate government and specially for international justice".

"If, by force or by any means, the opposition prevents it (the formation of the international tribunal) we will go back to the UN Security Council to have it adopted under Chapter Seven," Hamadeh added.

Under Chapter Seven the UN Security Council has broader power to decide what measures are to be taken in situations involving "threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, or acts of aggression".

In such situations, the Council is not limited to recommendations but may take action, including the use of armed force "to maintain or restore international peace and security".

In November, Hezbollah and its allies quit the Cabinet as it was moving to approve the tribunal after Saniora rejected their demand for a new national unity government which would give their camp veto power over major government decisions.

The Hezbollah-led opposition has staged a campaign of protests for the past two months aiming to bring down Saniora's government and replace it with one in which they would hold one-third plus one of the seats, allowing them to veto major decisions.

Hezbollah, which is worried the tribunal will be politicised and used against it, says the government should not consider the tribunal until such a government is formed.

The protests turned violent in January when eight people were killed in clashes between opposition and government supporters, raising fears that the political crisis could once again push Lebanon into civil war.

The fate of the tribunal now rests with the Lebanese, with ratification requiring a vote in Parliament.

Ratification requires a vote from Parliament, but Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri - a Hezbollah ally - has refused to convene the legislature, where it would be brought to a vote.

SHOTLIST

++NIGHT SHOTS++

1. Exterior shot of Prime Minister's office in Beirut

2. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle in position around Prime Minister's office

3. Mid shot of Lebanese soldiers

4. Wide shot of Lebanese soldiers and armoured vehicle

5. Wide shot of Prime Minister's office

6. Wide shot of Lebanese cabinet meeting

7. Mid shot of Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora sitting at head of meeting

8. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel placed in his position around meeting table

9. Various of cabinet ministers around table

10. Mid shot of picture of murdered Lebanese Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel

11. Cameras

12. Mid shot of Lebanese Minister of Information, Ghazi Aridi, at press conference

13. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ghazi Aridi, Lebanese Minister of Information:

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation.''

14. Cameras

STORYLINE

The Lebanese government on Saturday approved an international tribunal for suspects in the 2005 assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, despite warnings of mass protests by its opponent Hezbollah.

Last-ditch attempts to reach a compromise between the government and the pro-Syrian camp, led by Hezbollah, appeared to fail as the cabinet moved forward with its meeting for a UN created court.

The tribunal is a key bone of contention in the power struggle between allies and opponents of Syria in Lebanon.

Anti-Syrian forces - mainly Christian and Sunni Muslim - dominate the government, but are facing a campaign by the mainly Shiite pro-Syrian camp to bring the government down.

The political crisis became potentially explosive this week with the assassination of an anti-Syrian politician, raising worries of more violence that could tear apart the country's fragile sectarian seams.

The anti-Syrian bloc brought out some 800,000 people for a mass rally at the funeral of the politician, Pierre Gemayel, on Thursday.

Hezbollah has shown it can bring out similar numbers for its protests - and if it goes ahead with its threatened demonstrations, many fear it could start a spiral of street action.

Earlier on Saturday, two key anti-Syrian Lebanese politicians met with Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah and a Syria supporter, in an apparent attempt to find a compromise.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora offered to put off the contentious Cabinet vote for several days if six pro-Hezbollah ministers who quit the government earlier this month returned.

Hezbollah demands that the government be changed to give it and its allies more power, or else it says it will launch mass protests to topple Saniora.

But the reconciliation bid appeared to have failed, and the Cabinet meeting approved a UN draft for the tribunal.

In the eyes of Hezbollah, the approval of the tribunal amounts to a rejection of its demands for a greater representation in the Cabinet.

The Shiite militant group and Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, have denounced the current government as unconstitutional, because the constitution underlines that the government must represent all of Lebanon's main communities.

"(The cabinet) approved the creation of an international tribunal between Lebanon and the United Nations and authorised the Justice Minister to sign this agreement with the United Nations and also to send this approval to the Lebanese Parliament for authorisation,'' Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the vote.

Aridi's statement went on to say that Prime Minister Saniora insisted the approval of the tribunal was not meant as a provocation against Hezbollah and its allies.

For opponents of Syria, the court is a major priority, and they hope it will uncover the truth behind the February 2005 assassination of Hariri in a massive bomb blast that killed 22 others, which they accuse Damascus of orchestrating. Syria has denied any role in the killing.

The court, which will sit outside Lebanon and have a majority of non-Lebanese judges, is to try four Lebanese generals - top pro-Syrian security chiefs under Lahoud including his Presidential Guard commander, who have been under arrest for 14 months, accused of involvement in

Hariri's murder.

The UN investigation into Hariri's death has also implicated Brigadier General Assaf Shawkat, Syria's military intelligence chief and the brother-in-law of Syrian President Bashar Assad. But Shawkat is not in custody.

Hariri's death was the first in a string of attacks that killed five other prominent anti-Syrian figures - with Gemayel the most recent, in a bold daytime shooting on Tuesday.

Many Lebanese blame Syria in all the killings, which Damascus denies.

Since Gemayel's assassination, some ministers in Saniora's Cabinet have moved into the heavily guarded prime minister's building in downtown Beirut, fearing more slayings.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide exterior of Lebanese prime minister's office in Beirut

2. Lebanese prime minister Fuad Saniora taking his place at news conference

3. Cutaway of cameramen

4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese prime minister:

"Do not be afraid and do not despair. We have a right to stand strong in the defence of our independence and our democratic system."

5. Cutaway of camera

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger. We will not accept the return of the old regency to our country in order not to make it a space for conflicts."

7. Cutaway hands writing

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister:

"We will not allow them to topple the democratic system, its organisations and its basis. We will not accept a state inside a state. We are deep-rooted to our legitimate and constitutional government for all Lebanon and for all the Lebanese"

9. Wide of news conference

10. Walking shot of Saad Hariri, the son of the slain former premier Rafik Hariri, who heads the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier Rafik Hariri:

This is a democratic country and they are free to demonstrate any way they want. This is what democracy is all about. In regards of bringing down the government, they wouldn't be able to bring down the government because the government has the support of the majority of the parliament and the majority of the Lebanese people"

12. Cutaway of Lebanese flag

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier Rafik Hariri:

"We don't understand until now why they are demonstrating and for what reason. For us it is obvious because they don't want the international tribunal. They don't want 1701. They don't want Paris 3. What is the vision of this group (Hezbollah) for the future of Lebanon? Nobody has a clue, except to protect the interests of Syria in Lebanon"

14. Cutaway

STORYLINE

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora warned on Thursday that Lebanon's democracy was in danger after Hezbollah's call for protests to bring down his government.

"Lebanon's independence is threatened and its democratic system is in danger," he said in a nationally televised address from his office on the eve of an expected massive protest by Hezbollah and its allies aimed at ousting his cabinet.

"Do not be afraid and do not despair. We have a rightful cause," he said.

Earlier on Thursday in a television broadcast the leader of Hezbollah, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, called on the Lebanese people to rally on Friday afternoon in Beirut's main square for a peaceful protest to force Saniora's government to resign.

Saniora, who is backed by the United States and an anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, has been locked in a political power struggle with Hezbollah, which is supported by Syria and Iran, and its allies.

The call for protests came after weeks of political tension between pro-Syrian groups in the opposition, led by the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, and anti-Syrian factions supporting the government.

Last week, Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel was assassinated in a suburban Beirut street, renewing fears that the political crisis was carrying Lebanon back to the sectarian violence of the 1975-90 civil war.

Subsequently there have been scattered unrest in Christian areas of Beirut and Shiite Muslims have rioted in their neighbourhoods.

Meanwhile, the leader of Lebanon's anti-Syrian bloc warned on Thursday that Syria was behind planned Hezbollah protests to bring down the

government, trying to restore its power in the country.

Saad Hariri, son of the slain former premier Rafik Hariri, vowed the campaign would fail, but called for restraint among his supporters over the Hezbollah demonstration.

In an interview with The Associated Press, he said Friday would be a day to show "our resolve .... our calm."

"They won't be able to bring down the government, because the government has the support of the majority of the parliament and the majority of the

Lebanese people,'' he said.

The anti-Syrian bloc dominates parliament and the government, elected on broad support among Lebanon's Christians and Sunni Muslims.

Hezbollah and pro-Syrian parties are demanding more power in the government.

Hariri said the pro-government groups would not react to the Hezbollah-led opposition protests, saying Syria hoped to foment a clash between them.

Syria's nearly three-decade domination of Lebanon ended last year, but the government's backers say Damascus is trying to restore influence, along with that of its ally Iran. Syria's allies in Lebanon say the United States is now dominating the government and calling the shots.

Hariri predicted that Hezbollah's demonstrations would run their course until they realised they could not topple the government .

"What is the vision of this group (Hezbollah) for the future of Lebanon? Nobody has a clue, except to protect the interests of Syria in Lebanon," Hariri said.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of parliament building

2. Lebanese flag

3. Various of legislators arriving at parliament

4. Tilt up armed Lebanese soldier

5. Various of members of parliament (MPs) entering parliament building

6. Various of meeting inside parliament

7. Various of Walid Jumblatt, senior Druse leader at the meeting

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Musbah Al-Ahdab, Pro-government Lebanese MP:

"The parliament has been totally paralysed and I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again in order to avoid all the tension that we are seeing in the streets and mostly that the situation has become very tense inside of the country and even regionally. So it is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

9. Wide of camera operators

10. Exterior of Ein El-Tineh palace

11. Nabih Berri heading to the news conference

12. Cutaway of reporters

13. Close of note taking

14. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nabih Berri, Lebanese Speaker of the House:

"In post Ta'ef Lebanon there is no authority without a council of ministers. The authority is also for the whole council of ministers. The authority is for the whole parliament. Who said that you can deal with the issue in such a way? Therefore the parliament will not meet with this diminished (in number) government, only when it is fully restored (in terms of numbers) in one way or another. But this does not mean that there (inaudible) should be no sessions for the parliament. This is not a threat."

15. Cutaway cameramen

16. Reporters writing

17. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Nabih Berri, Lebanese Speaker of the House:

"As long as their aim is to terminate the dialogue ... my answer is: 'to continue the dialogue and extend hands until we save Lebanon."

18. Wide of Berri leaving conference

STORYLINE:

Pro-government lawmakers and their Hezbollah rivals on Tuesday dampened hopes that recent negotiations between the two camps in Lebanon would lead to an end to the country's four month long political crisis.

Several rounds of talks this month between Saad Hariri, head of the pro-government parliament majority, and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri from

opposition ranks aligned with Hezbollah, defused some of the tension permeating Lebanon and revived hopes of a reconciliation.

But tensions escalated anew Tuesday, with 45 pro-government legislators gathering in the parliament to protest Berri's refusal to convene a session

on the crisis.

Musbah Al-Ahdab, a pro-government Member of Parliament (MP) said the Lebanese parliament had "been totally paralysed."

"I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again," he said. "It is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

Berri has said he would not convene the parliament before opposition demands for a national unity government are met.

He has also said that even though the constitution stipulates the parliament convene for the spring session on the first Tuesday after March 15, this was not mandatory.

Walid Jumblatt, a Druse lawmaker and key government supporter, accused Berri of "hijacking" the parliament upon orders from Iran and Syria - the

main Hezbollah backers.

Dialogue, said Jumblatt, can only be beneficial in parliament.

Berri lashed back at a news conference later on Tuesday, accusing the parliamentary majority of blocking efforts for a settlement to the crisis.

He said that the parliament would only meet with the government when it is fully restored.

" The parliament will not meet with this diminished (in number) government only when it is fully restored (in terms of numbers) in one way or another. But this does not mean that there (inaudible) should be no sessions for the parliament. This is not a threat," Berri said.

Berri also criticised Tuesday's protest in parliament which he said was held mostly by legislators belonging to Hariri's parliamentary bloc who aimed to" terminate the dialogue."

"My answer is: 'to continue the dialogue and extend hands until we save Lebanon," Berri said.

Hariri is Sunni Muslim and his community backs Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's pro-Western government.

Berri is a Shiite Muslim, and his party Amal and its Hezbollah ally draw their support from the country's Shiite community.

The Christian community has lent more support to the anti-government faction than the pro-government.

The Hezbollah-led opposition has been staging protests and an open ended sit in downtown Beirut since December 1 in a bid to topple Saniora's government.

The opposition demands the government give it a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet.

Saniora has refused this, and is supported by the majority in parliament.

The confrontation has stirred political and sectarian tensions that have threatened to tear the country apart.

Nine people were killed in street clashes since December between pro- and anti-government supporters.

The opposition and Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud consider Saniora's government to be illegal after five Shiite ministers and a pro-Hezbollah Christian minister resigned in November.

The pro-government, anti-Syrian camp wants parliament to convene so that it can give the go-ahead for the creation of an international tribunal to try

suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The Hezbollah-led front has demanded modifications to the proposal for the international court.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of parliament building

2. Lebanese flag

3. Various of legislators arriving at parliament

4. Tilt up armed Lebanese soldier

5. Various of members of parliament (MPs) entering parliament building

6. Various of meeting inside parliament

7. Various of Walid Jumblatt, senior Druse leader at the meeting

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Musbah Al-Ahdab, Pro-government Lebanese MP:

"The parliament has been totally paralysed and I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again in order to avoid all the tension that we are seeing in the streets and mostly that the situation has become very tense inside of the country and even regionally. So it is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

9. Wide of camera operators

10. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ali Bazzi, Anti-government Lebanese MP:

"There is dialogue and meetings going on between the speaker of the house Nabih Berri and Sheikh Saad Hariri (head of the majority legislators). We consider this atmosphere of exaggeration and escalation to be a stab for this dialogue and the meetings which are going on. It seems that they (majority legislators) have deprived the government of its legitimacy, constitutionality and credibility and now they are trying to deprive the parliament of its legitimacy."

11. Lebanese security forces

STORYLINE:

Majority legislators gathered in the Lebanese Parliament building in Beirut on Tuesday, to urge the Lebanese speaker of the house, Nabih Berri, to open the first session of parliament for the year.

The pro-government anti-Syrian camp wants Parliament to convene so that the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the February 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri could be ratified.

The Hezbollah-led front has demanded modifications to the proposal for the international court.

On Tuesday, key negotiations were ongoing between Berri and Saad Hariri, the head of the majority legislators.

Saad Hariri is a Sunni Muslim and his community backs Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's pro-Western government.

Berri is a Shiite Muslim, and his party Amal and its Hezbollah ally draw their support from the country's Shiite community.

The Christian community has lent more support to the anti-government faction than the pro-government.

Pro-government legislators launched a scathing attack on Berri, dealing a blow to negotiations between the two sides.

Musbah Al-Ahdab, a pro-government Member of Parliament (MP) said the Lebanese parliament had "been totally paralysed."

"I think that we need to find a constitutional platform, we need to have this parliament to start working again," he said. "It is about time to bring back discussions where discussions should be, I mean in the parliament, the Lebanese parliament."

Another MP, senior Druse leader Walid Jumblatt, accused Berri of hijacking parliament upon orders from Iran and Syria.

Anti-government MPs however said Tuesday's gathering in parliament would undermine dialogue between Berri and Hariri.

"We consider this atmosphere of exaggeration and escalation to be a stab for this dialogue and the meetings which are going on," MP Ali Bazzi said.

"It seems that they (majority legislators) have deprived the government of its legitimacy, constitutionality and credibility and now they are trying to deprive the parliament of its legitimacy," he added.

The opposition and Lebanon's pro-Syrian President, Emile Lahoud, considers Saniora's government to be unconstitutional after five Shiite ministers and a pro-Hezbollah Christian minister resigned in November.

SHOTLIST

1. Mid of Beirut's main airport road with hundreds of protesters chanting pro-Nasrallah (Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah) slogans

2. Wide of protesters trying to block the road

3. Mid of cars trying to pass through road

4. Various of protesters in street

5. Lebanese army in street next to protesters

6. Various, armoured personnel carriers move up street

7. Various, massed troops, walking, running up street

8. Troops with protesters

9. Various of poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hassan Ezz Eddin, Hezbollah Spokesman:

"While we are calling for dialogue and reconciliation, we did not give up our planned agenda that was halted due to the assassination of Pierre Gemayel. Our agenda is still on and our principles haven't changed and will achieve it either by the street pressure or any other democratic and peaceful means to achieve our goal which will rescue Lebanon from all this tension.''

11. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and cabinet ministers during meeting

12. Various of meeting

13. Wide of Saniora walking into news conference and sitting down

14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanon Prime Minister:

"The opportunity is here today to be united with the international tribunal, because this tribunal is our only way to find the truth about the crimes which target the Lebanese people.''

15. Close up, photographer

STORYLINE

Hundreds of Shiite supporters of Hezbollah blocked a road leading to Beirut airport on Thursday, protesting at what they said were insults against their leader during the massive rallies accompanying the funeral of slain Christian politician, Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The protest came after hundreds of thousands of Lebanese flooded downtown Beirut to mourn the murdered politician and vent anger at Syria.

Troops were called in control the crowds, with columns of armoured personnel carriers on streets near the protest.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora went on national television appealing to Hezbollah and its allies to resume a national dialogue broken off earlier in the month.

He renewed an appeal to the six ministers who quit their posts to return to the Cabinet and for rival political factions to resume a national dialogue that broke off earlier in the month precipitating the current deadlock.

The six ministers resigned just before the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel who was murdered on Tuesday and whose funeral took place on Thursday.

But the divisive issue of approving a UN-created international tribunal to investigate the assassinations of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Gemayel could again undermine any reconciliation. But the government is pressing ahead with the court proposals, despite opposition from Hezbollah.

"The opportunity is here today to be united with the international tribunal, because this tribunal is our only way to find the truth about the crimes which target the Lebanese people.'' said Saniora in support of a tribunal investigation.

Pierre Gemayel, the scion of his powerful Maronite Christian family, was killed on Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection as he left a church in a Beirut suburb and assassins shot him numerous times through a side window.

He was the sixth anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in two years.

Syria has denied any role in the slaying of Gemayel and the other figures.

A government official said Saniora has called a Cabinet meeting for Saturday to approve the draft.

There was no immediate reaction from the opposition.

SHOTLIST:

1. Exterior of Prime Minister (PM) Fuad Saniora's office with protesters tents in foreground

2. Mid of barbed wire protecting Saniora's office, protesters in background carrying Lebanese flag

3. Protesters chanting anti-Saniora slogans

4. Barbed wire

5. Wide of protesters with tents outside Sanioras office

6. Various of protesters tents

7. Wide of cars on Beirut street

8. Tilt down newspaper stand

9. Lebanese newspaper headline reads (Arabic:) "The government received Secretary General of the Arab League with a new crisis."

10. People reading newspapers

11. Man crouching down, reading newspaper

12. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Vox Pop, local resident

"I wish for this Arab Initiative all the luck to solve this crisis for the sake of Lebanon."

13. Lebanese Army check point

14. Soldier on tank

STORYLINE:

As Hezbollah supporters seeking to overthrow Lebanese Prime Minister entered the thirteenth day of protest on Wednesday, incumbent leader Fuad Saniora pushed ahead with a United Nations (UN) plan to try suspects in the assassination of a former prime minister.

On Tuesday evening Saniora called a cabinet meeting to confirm its approval of the plan, that would seek to establish an international tribunal to try those accused of the 2005 assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

Lebanese politicians are sharply divided along pro and anti-Syrian lines over establishing the tribunal as the UN probe believes several Lebanese pro-Syrian generals are among those involved in the incident.

The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah oppose moving ahead with the tribunal, saying the government must first be reshuffled to give it and its allies more power.

Six ministers from the Shiite Muslim group and its allies resigned from the cabinet in November because they were not granted effective veto power.

The cabinet's decision to approve the trial represents another challenge to the Hezbollah-led opposition that began an open-ended protest on December 1 in Beirut.

Saniora, who has Western and Arab support, has repeatedly refused to resign and has been living at his downtown offices for more than a week.

The office is surrounded by riot police, troops in armoured vehicles and barbed wire.

Meanwhile Arab League chief Amr Moussa was trying on Wednesday to defuse Lebanon's political and sectarian tensions that threaten to tear the country apart.

Moussa, who arrived in Beirut on Tuesday, has met with some of the major leaders involved in the crisis, including Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

The pro-government factions and the United States have accused Hezbollah's two main sponsors - Syria and Iran - of seeking to overthrow the government.

Hezbollah retorts that Saniora acts on behalf of Washington.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide pan of closed shops

2. Close-up of padlock

3. Wide of bank sign

4. Wide of closed bank and cash machine

5. Close-up of cash machine

6. Wide of empty street

7. Sign for Lebanese Stock Exchange, which was closed

8. Wide of closed airline offices

9. Wide of quiet street

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Kamel Wazny, Economist:

"The assassination obviously left a negative impact on Lebanese politics and in return will have definitely an impact on the economic condition of Lebanon. Of course Lebanon coming out of a difficult war and we have a lot of heavy burden of debts when we are going towards Paris 3 to get funding and I think this will have an impact on the funding of the Lebanese government."

11. Various of a demonstration in Martyrs' square

12. Demonstrator holding a Phalange Party flag

13. Various of a demonstrators lighting a candles

14. Poster of the late Pierre Gemayel

15. Banner reading (English) "We are hostages of Iran, Syria and Israel"

16. SOUNDBITE (English) Nader El Naqib, demonstrator:

"We are here today to assert that we are going to continue till the end by having an international court."

17. Soldier standing with gun

18. Wide of Martyrs' square

STORYLINE

Business leaders hit Lebanon with a strike on Friday to demand that leaders find a resolution to the country's political crisis, fearing that it could spiral into violence after the slaying of a Christian leader.

With tension running high a day after a massive demonstration outside the funeral of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel, factories, banks and financial

institutions closed on orders from business community leaders.

Though many small shops remained open Friday, many schools kept their doors closed and traffic was thinner than normal on Beirut's usually bustling streets.

The two-day strike "was to raise the voice against this crime," a statement from the business leaders said.

It called on government and its opponents to break the political deadlock and urged the Cabinet and Parliament to "take national decisions ... engage in dialogue and stop making threats of street protests."

The strike reflected fears that Lebanon's political crisis could throw the country into turmoil.

"The assassination obviously left negative impact on Lebanese politics and in return will have definitely on the economic condition of Lebanon," said one economist AP Television spoke to.

Lebanon is sharply divided between anti-Syrian Christians and Sunni Muslims, who dominate the parliament and government, and pro-Syrian Shiite Muslims, who are led by the powerful Hezbollah guerrilla group and are demanding more power.

On Thursday, an estimated 800-thousand people, flooded into downtown Beirut for Gemayel's funeral and vented their anger against Syria, which many blame in the assassination.

They vowed their support for the US-backed government and vowed to oust Lebanon's pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud.

But Hezbollah and its allies have threatened their own campaign of street protests to bring down the government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora unless it is changed to give them more power.

Further stoking the tension was Saniora's call for a Cabinet session on Saturday to approve a protocol sent by the United Nations to set up an

international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri; a highly divisive issue because Syrian officials have been implicated in the murder.

"We are here today to assert that we are going to continue till the end by having an international court," said one demonstrator AP Television spoke to at a demonstration in martyr square on Friday.

Damascus has denied it had anything to do with the murder.

SHOTLIST:

1. Mid of Beirut's main airport road with hundreds of protesters chanting pro-Nasrallah (Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah) slogans

2. Wide of protesters trying to block the road

3. Mid of cars trying to pass through road

4. Various of protesters in street

5. Lebanese army in street next to protesters

6. Various, armoured personnel carriers move up street

7. Various, massed troops, walking, running up street

8. Troops with protesters

9. Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and cabinet ministers during meeting

10. Various of meeting

11. Wide of Saniora walking into news conference and sitting down

12. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanon Prime Minister:

"The opportunity is here today to be united with the international tribunal, because this tribunal is our only way to find the truth about the crimes which target the Lebanese people.''

13. Close up, photographer

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of Shiite supporters of Hezbollah blocked a road leading to Beirut airport on Thursday, protesting at what they said were insults against their leader during the massive rallies accompanying the funeral of slain Christian politician, Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel.

The protest came after hundreds of thousands of Lebanese flooded downtown Beirut to mourn the slain Christian politician and vent anger at Syria.

Troops were called in control the crowds, with columns of armoured personnel carriers on streets near the protest.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora went on national television appealing to Hezbollah and its allies to resume a national dialogue broken off earlier in the month.

He renewed an appeal to the six ministers who quit their posts to return to the Cabinet and for rival political factions to resume a national dialogue that broke off earlier in the month precipitating the current deadlock.

The six ministers resigned just before the assassination of Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel who was murdered on Tuesday and whose funeral took place on Thursday.

But the divisive issue of approving a UN-created international tribunal to investigate the assassinations of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and Gemayel could again undermine any reconciliation. But the government is pressing ahead with the court proposals, despite opposition from Hezbollah.

"The opportunity is here today to be united with the international tribunal, because this tribunal is our only way to find the truth about the crimes which target the Lebanese people.'' said Saniora in support of a tribunal investigation.

Pierre Gemayel, the scion of his powerful Maronite Christian family, was killed on Tuesday when two cars blocked his vehicle at an intersection as he left a church in a Beirut suburb and assassins shot him numerous times through a side window.

He was the sixth anti-Syrian figure killed in Lebanon in two years, including Rafik Hariri.

Syria has denied any role in the slaying of Gemayel and the other figures.

A government official said Saniora has called a Cabinet meeting for Saturday to approve the draft.

There was no immediate reaction from the opposition.

SHOTLIST

1. Wide top shot of thousands of protesters at the site where Pierre Gemayel was assassinated

2. Mid of protestors carrying flags

3. Mid of poster showing photo of Pierre Gemayel

4. Pan from right to left down street showing thousands of protestors

5. Various of wife and mother of Pierre Gemayel

6. Various of protestors

7. Mid of armed solider standing near site of protest

8. Various of Lebanese army on foot and in armoured vehicles taking up positions around the Prime ministers office in Beirut

9. Wide exterior of the office of Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime Minister, in Beirut

10. Wide interior pan of Saniora, Henrietta Fore, US Department of State Under Secretary, and delegation sitting for photo op

11. Mid of Henrietta Fore seated on couch

12. Mid of Saniora sitting for photo op

13. Wide of delegates

14. Mid of Saniora and Fore

15. Mid of Fore approaching microphone to speak

16. SOUNDBITE: (English) Henrietta Fore, US Department of State Undersecretary for Management:

"(we) affirmed our long and sustained commitment to Lebanon."

17. Various of newspaper stand in Beirut showing pictures of Pierre Gemayel, and tanks in streets

18. Various of newspaper headline reads: (Arabic) "No new initiative or meeting and all factions in confrontation.''

19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Vox Pop:

"We hope for Arab countries and the Arab League to intervene try to get people together in order to avoid civil war like the one we had.''

20. Wide of protestors

21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Vox Pop:

"We are here to show support and loyalty and to tell the world that we Lebanese Christians will stay and not leave Lebanon no matter what happen."

22. Wide of Beirut city

STORYLINE

Thousands of protestors took to the streets of Beirut on Tuesday, demanding the truth over the assassination of the Maronite Christian Industry minister, Pierre Gemayel.

The gathering, held at the site where Gemayel was killed, marked a week long period since the minister's death.

Gemayel's wife and mother joined the protestors.

Gemayel's assassination has inflamed an already volatile situation in Lebanon- one clearly visible in Beirut on Tuesday as troops moved to secure posts around Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's office as he met with a senior US official from Washington.

Henrietta Fore, US Department of State Undersecretary for Management, told news reporters after the meeting, that Washington had "affirmed" its "long and sustained commitment to Lebanon," in the face of Hezbollah-led opposition moves to topple it.

The meeting between US and Lebanon comes a day after Saniora's cabinet sent a draft accord to Lebanon's President, Emile Lahoud, seeking to create a tribunal to try suspects in the killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri - a move seen to further enhance the power struggle between the pro- and anti-Syrian forces.

The pro-Syrian Lahoud, who considers the Cabinet "unconstitutional" after the resignation of six ministers, is expected to decline to endorse the agreement.

The accord would set up the UN backed court in a location outside Lebanon.

For opponents of Syria, the court is a major priority, one they hope will uncover the truth behind the February 2005 assassination of Hariri which they accuse Damascus of orchestrating.

Syria denies the claim.

The tribunal has also become the latest weapon in the battle between the Hezbollah-aligned factions and the anti-Syrian parties over the demand by Hezbollah for a third of the Cabinet's seats, which would give Hezbollah and its supporters veto power over key decisions, including the UN document setting up the tribunal.

Hezbollah is threatening to call mass demonstrations unless it and its allies obtain a veto-wielding share of the Cabinet -a demand that Saniora and the anti-Syrian parties have rejected.

Gemayel's death heightened fears the country may return to the sectarian violence of the 1975-90 civil war.

SHOTLIST

1. 'An-Nahar' newspaper building with big poster of Gibran Tueni on side

2. Close up on poster

3. People marching

4. Protesters shouting slogans

5. Various of demonstration, flag waving people

6. Various of closed shops, banks and schools

7. Various of security forces on the streets

8. Newspapers on sale

9. Various of newspapers

10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Vox pop:

"We ask for a firm decision about the Syrians and we call to impose sanctions on them and even change the regime. This regime looks very criminal, we cannot reach an understanding with them."

11. Various of mourning signs in Sassine Place in Ashrafieh (area of Beirut which Tueni represented in parliament), pictures of Tueni and Lebanese flags

12. Cars driving through the street with Tueni posters, part of funeral procession

13. Various of funeral procession, coffins (of Tueni and his two bodyguards) draped in Lebanese flags being taken through Sassine

14. Atef Majdalani, MP from Hariri bloc in parliament, reading newspaper

15. Cutaway photo of Atef Majdalani and former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri

16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Atef Majdalani, MP from Hariri bloc in Lebanese parliament:

"We call on the international community to stop these terrorist operations, these crimes and these assassinations that are being carried out by totalitarian regimes, by dictatorial and oppressive regimes."

17. Various of funeral, crowd holding signs and waving Lebanese flags

STORYLINE:

Thousands of flag-waving Lebanese - both Christian and Muslim - bid farewell on Wednesday to murdered newspaper editor Gibran Tueni.

The mass turn-out demonstrated the level of anger felt towards Syria, which has been blamed for the Monday car bombing which killed Tueni.

A general strike called in mourning for Tueni was widely respected with banks, businesses and schools closing their doors for the day.

Hundreds of Lebanese troops and police took up position in a central square where, on March 14, about a million people heard Tueni call for the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon.

An outspoken critic of Syria, Tueni was killed by a car bomb on Monday as he was being driven to work through an industrial suburb of Beirut.

The 48-year old was the fourth anti-Syrian figure to be killed since February.

The series of bombings began with the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a truck bombing.

A previously unknown group has claimed responsibility for the blast that killed Tueni and two bodyguards, and wounded 30 other people.

But Tueni's colleagues and political allies have blamed Syria, which has denied involvement.

In the Beirut district of Ashrafieh, which Tueni represented in parliament, several thousand people marched behind his coffin and those of his bodyguards.

Others waited outside An-Nahar's offices in the city centre, where a giant portrait of Tueni hung down the side of the building.

Men, women and children - including families and political activists - waved Lebanese flags and held pictures of Tueni.

Many shouted slogans against Syria and its President Bashar Assad.

The strike that anti-Syrian groups had called in mourning for Tueni was observed not only in Beirut, but also in the southern provincial capital of Sidon and in the mountains of central Lebanon.

But in eastern Lebanon, where pro-Syrian groups are dominant, the strike call was ignored.

Opponents of Syrian influence in Lebanon are counting on the public anger over Tueni's killing to bolster their cause and close ranks in the face of what they see as a Syrian threat to pick off their leaders one by one.

Meantime, on Tuesday the chief U.N. investigator into the Hariri assassination, German magistrate Detlev Mehlis, told the U.N. Security Council that the latest evidence strengthened his belief that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials were involved in the murder.

Mehlis had interviewed Tueni as a witness.

Hariri's death in February sparked mass protests and intensified international pressure which forced Syria to withdraw its army from Lebanon after nearly three decades of political and military control.

Syria has denied involvement in Hariri's killing.

France circulated a resolution in the Security Council co-sponsored by Britain and the United States, which would broaden the scope of the U.N. investigation to include all the attacks in Lebanon since October 1, 2004.

The draft resolution seemed to deflect the Lebanese government's request for an inquiry into Tueni's killing and an international tribunal for the suspected killers of Hariri.

SHOTLIST

Beirut

1. Various of car wreckage of Tueini

2. Various of aftermath of explosion

3. Wide exterior of the Grand Serail

4. Close-up of Lebanese flag

5. Wide interior of the High Security council meeting

4. Mid shot of Lebanese Prime-Minister Fuad Saniora

5. Various of council's meeting

Beirut

6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime-Minister:

"We will not surrender, we will not surrender. The criminals continue to kill us one after the other. We will not surrender whatever is the price."

7. Cutaway cameramen

8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Fuad Saniora, Lebanese Prime-Minister:

"This hideous crime occurs while Judge Detlev Mehlis presents his report, with whatever indications and significance it has especially after what has been recently said as declarations and threats that are very clear."

9. Wide of news conference

10. Various of Saniora meeting ambassadors

Beirut

10. Sit-in in Christian Ashrafieh neighbourhood (central Beirut)

11. Various of sit-in

12. Man holding poster of journalist and lawmaker Gibran Tueini

13. More of sit-in

14. Security forces

Damascus

15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mehdi Dakhlallah, Syrian Information Minister:

"Actually I think Lebanon's enemies are responsible for all these explosions that are happening nowadays. No matter how the relationship between Syria and Lebanon is, or what in JebranTueni's attitude towards Syria was and what he announced. Syria condemns the killing of Gobrin Tueni, Syria totally refuses these charges because it is against Syrian policy and manners."

16. Street scene

STORYLINE:

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said Monday he will ask the United Nations to set up a new inquiry into anti-Syrian journalist and MP Gibran Tueni's slaying and previous bombings and to create an international tribunal to try suspects in the Hariri assassination.

"The criminals continue to kill us one after the other. We will not surrender whatever is the price," Saniora said.

A previously unknown group, "Strugglers for the unity and freedom in the Levant," claimed responsibility for the blast, but many quickly implicated Damascus in the slaying.

The statement's authenticity could not be independently confirmed.

The bombing came the day that the U.N. Security Council received a U.N. inquiry's report into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

New evidence has only reinforced investigators' belief that the Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services were likely involved in the assassination of Lebanon's former prime minister, a U.N. probe said in the new report Monday.

The 25-page report from German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis' team again accused Syria of trying to obstruct his probe when it demanded that he revise his findings after a crucial witness recanted his testimony.

Mehlis will brief the council on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in the Christian quarter of Ashrafieh, Tueni's constituency, orthodox churches tolled their bells. Dozens of Tueni supporters held a sit-in to mark the death of the lawmaker.

Police said Tueni was one of three people killed when a car bomb exploded as his motorcade drove through the hilly industrial suburb of Mkalles.

The others were his driver and an unidentified passerby. Another 30 people were wounded in the bombing, which started a fire that destroyed at least 10 vehicles.

Tueni, 48, who had championed the U.N. investigation into Hariri's killing, had returned only Sunday from France, where he had been staying periodically for fear of assassination.

The U.N. inquiry reported in October that Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officials were implicated in Hariri's death.

Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah denied his government was involved in the killing.

After Hariri's death, Tueni played a prominent role in the leadership of the mass demonstrations that, combined with international pressure, succeeded in forcing Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon in April, ending a 29-year presence in the country.