Tens of thousands of Lebanese Shias in white shrouds marched in a Beirut suburb on Friday in a collective show of willingness to die in defence of holy shrines in US-occupied Iraq.
Chanting "death to America, death to Israel", a white sea of men, women and children swept across the streets of Beirut's mainly Shia suburb in a massive show of strength by Hizbollah guerrilla group.
Hizbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah had called the march "to tell America that we are ready for martyrdom" and to denounce attacks by US forces in Kerbala and Najaf, the holiest Shia cities in Iraq. Carrying yellow Hizbollah flags, many demonstrators flocked to Beirut from across Lebanon. Sunni and Shia Muslim clerics and Palestinian refugees also took part in the march, witnesses said.
Many marchers had the words "We love martyrdom" printed on their shrouds.
Nasrallah was scheduled to address the crowd at the end of the march. US forces have vowed to arrest or kill rebel Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and crush his Mehdi Army militia in Najaf and Kerbala.
Sadr has taken refuge in Najaf while his gunmen have clashed daily with US troops near the shrines in both cities.
The United States says Hizbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is a terrorist organisation. It accuses the group of launching a spate of attacks on US interests in Lebanon in the 1980s, including hostage-takings and the killing of 241 Marines in an attack in Beirut in 1983.
Hizbollah guerrillas were the main force battling Israeli occupation of south Lebanon in the 1990s until Israel withdrew in 2000.
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