Anti-Syrian Aoun leads Lebanon election

Anti-Syrian Christian leader Michel Aoun, who returned from 14 years’ exile only five weeks ago, appeared poised to hand other anti-Syrian opposition groups a surprising defeat in Lebanese parliamentary elections, denying them the majority they had hoped to muster in their drive to end Syria’s political control.

A senior opposition leader, Walid Jumblatt, conceded late yesterday that the opposition had suffered losses, as did several other main opposition candidates.

With no official results expected before at least midday today, preliminary results and campaign estimates, as well as polls by TV stations, showed Aoun and his allies leading or winning in several districts in Mount Lebanon and in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

A strong showing by Aoun, whose Free Patriotic Movement has waged an anti-corruption campaign, could make him a key player in the fight over Syrian control in the new Parliament.

The fiercely contested vote in central and eastern regions of the county is deciding nearly half the legislative seats in Lebanon’s four-stage elections.

Going into yesterday’s race, the opposition had the 19 seats it gained in the first stage of the elections held in Beirut May 29, and needed another 46 to win a majority in the 128-member legislature. But in races that were already clear among the 58 seats contested Sunday, Aoun appeared to have clinched at least 14 seats, at least temporarily thwarting the opposition’s quest for a majority.

By early today, many of the races had yet to be decided, but 10 seats in a region in the northern part of the Bekaa were expected to go to a ticket backed by the pro-Syrian Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah. Hezbollah and its allies swept the 23 seats at stake in southern Lebanon in the second round on June 6.

Meanwhile, Syria’s President Bashar Assad met with a top UN envoy yesterday amid accusations that Syria has not fully withdrawn its intelligence operatives from Lebanon and was perhaps even organising political assassinations.

UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who met with Assad for two hours, left the country without commenting on the outcome of the talks. The government also had no comment.

In a statement issued in Beirut, UN spokesman Nejib Friji said Roed-Larsen discussed with Assad “all relevant issues and they will continue their dialogue.”

Roed-Larsen planned to brief UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on the talks when they meet in Paris today, Roed-Larsen spokesman Fabrice Aidan said. He said there would be no comment on the substance of Roed-Larsen’s discussions with Assad until after that meeting took place.