Hezbollah claims victory in south Lebanon poll
Syria's staunchest allies, Hezbollah and Amal, say they have won all 23 seats in general elections in southern Lebanon.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also Amal leader, said the list, dubbed the "steamroller", had taken all seats in the second round of general elections, staggered by region over four weekends.
"I thank all my people in the great south for renewing their confidence in the list and for the victory of all its candidates," Mr Berri said.
"The results have not changed from the past at all and the south came out to say its word for resistance, for liberation, for development," he had said after polls closed.
Many in the Shiite Muslim heartland see a vote for Hezbollah as a vote for the group to retain its arms as a defence against neighbouring Israel, which occupied the south for 22 years until its 2000 pullout.
Hundreds of supporters waving green Amal flags celebrated outside Mr Berri's villa as results began to trickle out.
Others drove through streets of southern villages and towns flying yellow Hezbollah and Amal flags.
Hezbollah, which Washington labels a terrorist group, and the more moderate Amal are the dominant forces among the Shiites, Lebanon's largest sect.
Lebanon's first general elections since Syrian troops quit their smaller neighbour are being held region by region over four weekends until June 19.
In the south, Amal-Hezbollah had won six seats by default before a single ballot was cast, due to a lack of challengers.
Voting got off to a slow start but picked up during the day and Interior Ministry sources said turnout among the 675,000 eligible voters was 45 per cent by the close of polling at 6pm local time.
Damascus backed both Amal and Hezbollah during and after the 1975-1990 civil war, and Shiites largely stayed away from anti-Syrian street protests that swept Beirut after the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Those protests, which united Christians, Sunnis and Druze, forced Syria to bow to world pressure and end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April.
- Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1385013.htm
Syria's staunchest allies, Hezbollah and Amal, say they have won all 23 seats in general elections in southern Lebanon.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, also Amal leader, said the list, dubbed the "steamroller", had taken all seats in the second round of general elections, staggered by region over four weekends.
"I thank all my people in the great south for renewing their confidence in the list and for the victory of all its candidates," Mr Berri said.
"The results have not changed from the past at all and the south came out to say its word for resistance, for liberation, for development," he had said after polls closed.
Many in the Shiite Muslim heartland see a vote for Hezbollah as a vote for the group to retain its arms as a defence against neighbouring Israel, which occupied the south for 22 years until its 2000 pullout.
Hundreds of supporters waving green Amal flags celebrated outside Mr Berri's villa as results began to trickle out.
Others drove through streets of southern villages and towns flying yellow Hezbollah and Amal flags.
Hezbollah, which Washington labels a terrorist group, and the more moderate Amal are the dominant forces among the Shiites, Lebanon's largest sect.
Lebanon's first general elections since Syrian troops quit their smaller neighbour are being held region by region over four weekends until June 19.
In the south, Amal-Hezbollah had won six seats by default before a single ballot was cast, due to a lack of challengers.
Voting got off to a slow start but picked up during the day and Interior Ministry sources said turnout among the 675,000 eligible voters was 45 per cent by the close of polling at 6pm local time.
Damascus backed both Amal and Hezbollah during and after the 1975-1990 civil war, and Shiites largely stayed away from anti-Syrian street protests that swept Beirut after the February 14 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
Those protests, which united Christians, Sunnis and Druze, forced Syria to bow to world pressure and end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon in April.
- Reuters
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200506/s1385013.htm
posted by Kangaroo Brisbane Australia at 6:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home