by Nathaniel Harrison
BEIRUT - Lebanon groped for political unity Wednesday and marked the departure of more Syrian intelligence agents from the capital, which prompted outbursts of joy, anger and relief from some Beirut residents.
Prime Minister-designate Omar Karameh, a Syrian loyalist, made no headway in his bid to persuade anti-Syrian opposition deputies to join a government of national unity, leaving a standoff that threatens parliamentary elections set to take place in principle by the end of May.
But further progress was made toward a Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon, as demanded by the opposition and the international community, with feared Syrian military agents climbing aboard buses and cars and heading toward home.
Lebanese soldiers took up positions near the sea-front headquarters of the Syrian intelligence apparatus as youths cheered and waved Lebanese flags.
As night fell, a jubilant crowd gathered in front of the facility, still guarded by Lebanese troops, where they danced, chanted and sang patriotic songs.
"Whew! They're gone after all these years and we are at last at peace," said Samira, who lives with her husband in a building used by Syrian intelligence.
"They tired us out and now, good riddance to them."
Two other residents of the capital said they had been been detained and tortured by Syrian agents in the buildings that were finally abandoned Wednesday.
"Today I came to see them leave and evacuate this building where I was held in one of the 10 cells," said a 47-year-old man, adding that he had been beaten there before being shipped off to a Syrian prison for five years.
He said the Syrians at the time suspected him of working with PLO leader Yasser Arafat, then deemed an enemy by the Syrian leadership.
Western experts estimated that Syria had once had between 3,000 and 4,000 military intelligence operatives in Lebanon. Their departure, along with some 14,000 troops, is the main demand of both Lebanon's opposition and the UN Security Council.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has pledged to call home all his forces, and Syrian troops have already left north Lebanon and the mountains overlooking Beirut on their way east and the Syrian border.
Karameh resigned as Lebanese prime minister February 28 in the face of public outrage at the assassination of former premier Rafiq Hariri, widely blamed on Lebanese-Syrian intelligence agents despite denials in Beirut and Damascus.
He was called back by Syrian-supported President Emile Lahoud last week but has so far been unable to put together a national unity cabinet.
"Such a government has no chance of seeing the light of day because the loyalists (to Syria) and the opposition are sticking to diametrically opposed positions," said MP Robert Ghanem.
Energized by a huge public rally on Monday, which drew around a million people into central Beirut, the anti-Syrian opposition is demanding the removal of the public prosecutor, as well as the heads of Lebanon's six security services, and an international investigation into Hariri's killing.
Backed by the United States and France they are also calling for the expeditious withdrawal of Syrian troops and intelligence agents from Lebanon.
"The designation of Karameh was a mistake," said the pro-Syrian newspaper As-Safir.
"His appeal for a government of national unity and his refusal to take account of opposition demands are also mistakes in light of Monday's demonstration."
Karameh nonetheless intends to pursue contacts with opposition leader Walid Jumblatt, the Hariri family and the patriarch of the Maronite Church, Nasrallah Sfeir, who is currently visiting Washington.
On Wednesday he announced the cancellation of a rally in Tripoli, north Lebanon, of parties sympathetic to Syria, calling instead for dialogue with the opposition.
The political stalemate in Beirut threatens parliamentary elections that should in principle take place by May 31, notably if a government is not in place by the end of March.
Under such circumstances the vote could be postponed and mandate of the current parliament, which ends in June, extended six months to a year.

03/16/2005 17:24 GMT