Festive Lebanese call for "righteous" government

BEIRUT, Dec 2 (Reuters) Lebanese of all ages have demanded their government which they see as a pawn of the United States step down and be replaced by a ''clean and righteous'' government representing all factions.

''Siniora leave, government is not for sale,'' the hundreds of thousands-strong crowd chanted, referring to Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The festive crowd danced to drum beats and chanted anti-government slogans in Beirut. Many women dressed in orange, green and yellow, the opposition groups' different party colours, while others were veiled and dressed in black chadors.

Other protesters tied opposition flags around their heads -- either yellow corresponding to Hezbollah's flag or the red and white of Lebanon's flag. Some tied orange bands around their arms to show support for the Christian opposition.

The crowd had answered calls by the opposition, led by Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah, to take part in a protest aimed at bringing down Siniora's government.

Siniora has said he will not give in to the pressure.

''We want a government in which everyone has a share, a government that is righteous and clean,'' said Fatima Najjar, 47, a Shi'ite Muslim from south Lebanon yesterday.

''Prime Minister Siniora's government takes decisions from the outside. We want a government that takes its decisions from the inside,'' said Khalil Haddad, a supporter of Christian opposition leader and Hezbollah ally Michel Aoun.

The anti-Syrian politicians who control the cabinet say Shi'ite Hezbollah and its allies want to stage a coup and reinstate Syrian hegemony over Lebanon.

The opposition has been demanding a more decisive say in government but said the ruling majority had ignored its demands.

Hezbollah has repeatedly criticised Siniora's cabinet over what it says was its failure to back the group during a 34-day summer war with Israel.

''We want to bring down the government. Its behaviour during the war was against the resistance, it did not stand with its people,'' said Ali Zayour, 24, a Shi'ite protester.

But other Lebanese said the protests would not result in any change in the government.

''These protests are paralysing the situation. We have to be smart and all of us have to sit down and talk,'' said Carlos Shalhoub, a 30-year-old private banker, as he left his office in downtown Beirut.

REUTERS SBA BST0423