Amal-Hizbollah set for win in Lebanese elections

SYRIA’S staunchest allies Hizbollah and Amal headed for a clean sweep in south Lebanon’s polls yesterday in the first general election since Syrian troops quit their smaller neighbour.

Official results are not expected until today but early unofficial counts indicated a landslide for the Amal-Hizbollah alliance, commonly dubbed the “steamroller.”

Many in the Shi’ite Muslim heartland see a vote for Hizbollah as a vote for retaining its arms as resistance against neighbouring Israel which occupied the south for 22 years.