Shlonkom Bakazay?

Thousands of demonstrators shouting "Syria Out!" rallied in downtown Beirut late on Sunday after opposition movements vowed to defy a ban on public demonstrations.

Youngsters carrying the Lebanese flag converged on Martyrs' Square, where the opposition has called for a peaceful sit-in on Monday in defiance of the ban, which comes into force at 0300 GMT.

"We are going to hand out blankets, we are staying here," one of the demonstrators said by loudspeaker.

Hundreds of heavily armed troops deployed with jeeps and trucks at all the main crossroads leading to the square.

And hundreds of protesters stopped from getting to the square blocked nearby crossings, some of them shouting: "We don't want any other army than the Lebanese army!"

Interior Minister Sulaiman Franjieh earlier on Sunday outlawed all public demonstrations.

The minister said the ban was "due to the current circumstances, in the supreme national interest and with a view to the requirements of protecting civil peace".