Lebanon: Lebanon's western-backed, anti-Syrian government has suffered a blow with the loss of a seat in a weekend by-election which reduced the coalition's narrow majority and may strengthen the claim of the pro-Syrian opposition to the presidency.
The election, in the Metn area north of Beirut, highlighted the deep split within the country's once dominant Christian minority from which the president is chosen. In a hotly-contested race, a candidate backed by Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun narrowly beat Amin Gemayel, a former president, who is a leader of the governing coalition.
Because Mr Aoun's candidate won by only a slim margin of several hundred out of about 70,000 votes cast, both sides tried to portray the outcome as a victory.
Mr Gemayel accused the other side of vote-rigging. But Mr Aoun was buoyant after the vote. "They just can't beat me," he said. The former army commander has allied himself with the pro-Syrian Hizbullah movement and is a candidate in the forthcoming presidential elections.
- (Financial Times Service)