About 10,000 Lebanese defied a government ban on anti-government protests and took to the streets of Beirut to demand an end to the Syrian occupation of Lebanon.

Although hundreds of police and government soldiers were present in Martyrs' Square, the sight of the protests, there was no outbreak of violence. The leaders of the protest have gone out of their way to tell its followers not to provoke the police while for now, the government has not ordered a violent crackdown on the demonstrators.

The opposition has been reacting to the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Hariri had recently spoken out in opposition to the Syrian occupation and many suspect Syria was involved in Hariri's death. Syria has denied killing Hariri.

The protesters shouted, 'We want no other army in Lebanon except the Lebanese army!' while they filled the square.

Syria has not indicated it would withdraw its troops from Lebanon. Syrian dictator Bashar Assad had said he would remove troops from certain parts of Lebanon but has given no time table for the withdrawal. Thus far, no action has been taken to remove the Syrian occupying forces.

President Assad told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, 'Under a technical point of view, the withdrawal can happen by the end of the year,' Assad claimed. 'But under a strategic point of view, it will only happen if we obtain serious guarantees. In one word: peace.'

Meanwhile, opposition politicians continued to call for the fall of the pro-Syrian government. “I accuse this government of incitement, negligence and shortcomings at the least, and of covering up its planning at the most … if not executing' the bomb attack on Hariri, lawmaker Marwan Hamadeh told parliament.

The situation in Beirut remains volatile but for now, violence has been held at bay.