Former prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri was laid to rest in central Beirut on Wednesday amid scenes of anger as thousands of mourners poured into the streets chanting anti-Syrian slogans. Draped in a Lebanese flag, al-Hariri's casket arrived with some difficulty to the unfinished Muhammad al-Amin Mosque, which is located in downtown Beirut, the district he helped to rebuild and transform from a forgotten ghost area during the Lebanese civil war into a major tourist attraction. Tens of thousands of people lined up the streets along the 3.2km route taken by the funeral procession. Thousands of others thronged the roads, effectively blocking the ambulance that was carrying al-Hariri's body from reaching the burial site, located just outside the mosque."Syria get out, Syria get out," yelled the crowds. A woman in black shouted hysterically, "Syria messed up Lebanon. Let them get out of here. I don't want to see a Syrian face." Others called on the government to resign. "We don't recognise the current government. They are ruling us by force," Radwan Itani, 45, said. People who are opposed to Syria consider the government headed by Prime Minister Umar Karami a product of the controversial Syrian-inspired amendment of the Lebanese constitution that allowed President Emile Lahoud to extend his term for another three years last September.