Lebanon troops deploy at US embassy before protest

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L15709680.htm

BEIRUT, March 15 (Reuters) - Scores of Lebanese soldiers and riot police deployed around the U.S. embassy near Beirut on Tuesday ahead of a planned anti-American march called by pro-Syrian student groups.

Witnesses said the security forces put up metal barricades and barbed wire to cut off all roads leading to the embassy complex in Awkar, north of the Lebanese capital.

Soldiers took up positions on rooftops in surrounding buildings hours before the march was due to take place.

The organisers, who belong to pro-Syrian political parties, had called the march to protest against what they see as U.S. interference in Lebanese affairs.

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