Beirut: Protesters are camping out in central Beirut to demand the resignation of the country's Western-backed government, which vowed not to cave in to pressure.
On the second day of protests on Saturday, hundreds of supporters Hezbollah and its allies pitched tents near central Beirut's Martyr's Square and on streets near government offices.
They were seen stretched out on the pavement or huddled around camp fires, a day after they staged a massive rally in Beirut to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.
Scores of soldiers have cordoned off the government offices with barbed wire and metal barriers.
"The massive demonstration... has given Lebanon one of the most difficult tests that the country has known in a long while," pro-Syrian newspaper Al Akhbar said on Saturday.
Demonstrators on Friday's rally created a sea of Lebanese flags in downtown Beirut. Many protesters chanted slogans demanding for Siniora's resignation.
Siniora's supporter, Sunni Muslim leader Saad Al Hariri, responded in a televised interview late on Friday: "No matter how long they stay in the street ... this will not bring down the government."
