VIDEO: Lebanon Hariri Rally Shows Support

Anti-Syrian politicians also urged supporters who engulfed central Beirut to vote for them in force in a parliamentary election in June.

A huge rally marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of Rafik al-Hariri turned into a show of support on Saturday for a U.N. court that will open in March to try suspects in the former Lebanese prime minister's slaying.

Anti-Syrian politicians also urged supporters who engulfed central Beirut to vote for them in force in a parliamentary election in June which will decide whether their coalition will retain its slim majority or lose to the Hezbollah-led alliance.

"Today we come again to Freedom Square to tell the martyr Rafik al-Hariri and all the martyrs of the uprising of independence: the international tribunal is at the doorstep," Hariri's son and political heir, Saad, told a crowd of cheering supporters waving Lebanese and party flags.

"The time for truth has come and justice will come ... every flower on the gravesite, every young child's tear, and every prayer for Lebanon participated in paving the way to The Hague."

Hariri and 22 others were killed on Feb. 14, 2005 by a car bomb explosion in Beirut which some anti-Syrian politicians have blamed on Syria, though Damascus denies involvement. The U.N. tribunal is due to open on March 1 in The Hague.

The assassination sparked an international outcry that forced Syria to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence.

After more than three years of inquiries in Lebanon, U.N. investigators have yet to name any suspects. The head of the team, Daniel Bellemare, has said the opening of the tribunal does not mean legal proceedings will start immediately and that investigations will continue.

Since Hariri's killing, Lebanon has suffered a wave of political assassinations, mostly of anti-Syrian figures. His killing intensified anti-Syrian sentiment, helping Saad's alliance to win the last legislative election in 2005.

The June 7 vote is expected to be a very close contest between Sunni Muslim Saad's anti-Syrian coalition backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia and the Shi'ite Hezbollah-led alliance supported by Syria and Iran.

"We affirm that June 7 in not simply a question of choosing parliamentarians but it is the chance for Lebanese to answer questions of destiny," Saad said.

"June 7 is a defining chapter in Lebanon's democratic life. It is an occasion to raise your voices for the sake of establishing an independent and free country, a nation that is able and responsible for running its own affairs," he said.

A power struggle leading to armed conflict between the two alliances last May was the low point of an 18-month political crisis, Lebanon's worst since the 1975-90 civil war.

The crisis ended when a unity government was formed in July in which the Shi'ite-led opposition holds effective veto power.

Saad has said that if the Hezbollah-led minority wins the election, he will not join the new government.

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