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. Pan on downtown Beirut with Al Amine mosque in the background

2. Crowd gathering at the Martyrs' square

3. Former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri poster with electronic sign reading "365"

4. Arrival of MP Bahia Hariri, sister of Rafik Hariri, at his grave

5. Bahia Hariri praying

6. Close-up of big poster for Rafik Hariri

7. Bahia Hariri leaving the anniversary ceremony marking Hariri's assassination

8. Thousands gathered in crowded square

9. Various of crowd waving Lebanese flags and anti-Syrian banners

10. Mid shot of banner: "Kick out Bashar's agent from Baabda" (referring Syrian President Bashar Assad and to Lebanese president Emile Lahoud)

11. Wide shot of Al Amine mosque

12. Mid shot of crowd

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ghazi Aridi, Information minister:

"It will be the international tribunal and the truth will be very clear for all the Lebanese people and the international community."

14. Mid shot of soldiers

15. Various of crowd

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese waving flags, some carrying anti-Syrian banners, massed in Martyr's square in Beirut on Tuesday to commemorate the first anniversary of the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.

The gathering answered a call by groups opposed to Syrian involvement in lebanon aiming to show their popular strength amid deep political divisions.

Syria's troops left Lebanon in April under international pressure after nearly 30 years, and a UN probe into Hariri's murder has already implicated top Syrian and allied Lebanese security officials. Damasmcus refutes any involvement.

Rafik Hariri's sister Bahia Hariri prayed at his graveside next to the square.

Outside some demonstrators carried signs calling for "The Truth" and shouted the name of Hariri's son and political heir, Saad Hariri, whilst others carried placards critical of Syria and its president, Bashar Assad.

Thousands of troops and policemen, backed by armoured vehicles, sealed off Beirut's downtown area to provide security and guarded approaches to the city.

The government gave schools the day off and businesses closed.

The demonstration was expected to climax shortly after midday - the time when a huge truck bomb exploded on a downtown seaside street as his motorcade drove by a year ago, killing him and 20 others.

The main pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim groups, Hezbollah and Amal, were not taking part in the demonstration, which was expected to be largely dominated by Sunni Muslims from Hariri's sect and by Christian and Druse allies.

Amal is holding its own commemoration later Tuesday in southern Lebanon. Amal and Hezbollah, who are represented in the Cabinet, have been locked in a power struggle with the government's majority led by the Saad Hariri bloc.

The groups leading Tuesday's rallies in Beirut are looking for a repetition of a March 14 protest in which about one (m) million flag-waving Lebanese converged on Martyrs' Square to demand the Syrian army leave Lebanon.

The groups have continued to accuse Syria of interfering in Lebanese affairs and carrying out a campaign of bombings and assassinations in the last year that has killed other 11 people, including three prominent anti-Syrians.

Damascus has also denied involvement in these attacks.

Before the troop pullout, Syria had dominated Lebanon with its army and security services for nearly three decades, first entering in 1976 to quell a fratricidal civil war that did not end until 1990.

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. 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.