Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group Washington calls a terrorist organization, and its Amal movement rival in the Shiite Muslim community teamed up in southern Lebanon parliamentary elections yesterday and are expected to easily sweep all 23 seats in that region.
The second of four-stage parliamentary elections began in southern Lebanon yesterday, and the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Hezbollah expects its wins to give it greater political influence to confront international pressure to disarm now that its Syrian backers have withdrawn from the country.
Polls opened at 7am in the region that is bordered by Israel. The area continues to see occasional tension with the Jewish state since the Israeli troop withdrawal from a border security zone in southern Lebanon in 2000. Polls close at 6pm. About 665,000 men and women are eligible to vote.
The elections, which are scheduled for two more Sundays in other regions, came as tension grew at the burial of a slain anti-Syrian journalist and calls for President Emile Lahoud to resign continued unabated.
Syria pulled all its troops out of Lebanon in April after three decades of control, and the anti-Syrian opposition hopes the elections will end Damascus' control of the legislature.
In last Sunday's polls in Beirut, anti-Syrian opposition candidates took out most of the capital's 19 parliamentary seats. But the vote in the predominantly Shiite south promises to be totally different from the other areas in terms of political objectives.
While the race for parliamentary seats in most Lebanese areas is largely between the pro- and anti-Syrian camps, the election in south Lebanon is geared toward rejecting international pressure to disarm Hezbollah in line with UN Security Council resolution 1559.
Voters in southern Lebanon are united in their support for Hezbollah, crediting it for forcing Israeli troops to withdraw from the region and in their rejection of international attempts to disarm the group. Hezbollah, backed by both Syria and Iran, led a guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of a border zone in south Lebanon that ended in 2000.
Hezbollah and Amal are running virtually unopposed. Although there are 53 candidates running for the 23 seats, observers expect the Hezbollah-Amal ticket to win in full. Already six candidates won uncontested before the polls began because there were no challengers in their district.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Amal movement, urged the groups' supporters to turn out in large numbers "to vote against Resolution 1559."
Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah candidate allied with Amal, said, "The Hezbollah-Amal candidates are waging the south elections under the motto of rejecting Resolution 1559 and defending the [anti-Israel] resistance ... The south's choice is the resistance choice."
Last year's UN Resolution 1559 forced Syrian troops to leave Lebanon and also demands militias -- a clear reference to Hezbollah -- in Lebanon give up their weapons.
The US has also called for the group to abandon its weapons.
Hezbollah has refused to disarm, and Lebanese authorities have rejected US and UN demands to dismantle the group, saying it is a resistance movement, not a militia.
Hezbollah, which is fielding 14 candidates across Lebanon, hopes to build on the nine seats it already holds in the 128-member legislature. It has already won a seat in Beirut.
The death in Beirut of anti-Syrian journalist Samir Kassir, killed on Thursday by a bomb placed in his car, reignited hostility toward Damascus and prompted calls for Lahoud, Syria's greatest supporter here, to step down.
Hundreds of mourners marched in Beirut on Saturday at Kassir's funeral amid calls for an international investigation into his death.
Kassir, a 45-year-old columnist for An-Nahar newspaper, was a harsh critic of Syria's role in Lebanon. Lebanese opposition members blame Syria and its local allies for Kassir's killing.
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
SEEKING ORDER: Rodrigo Paz said that ‘anyone who wants to destroy the nation will have to deal with this president and the full force of the constitution’ Bolivian President Rodrigo Paz on Wednesday said that the nation was at a “breaking point” after nearly a month of protests that have caused shortages of food, fuel and medicine. Paz, who took office six months ago amid the worst economic crisis there in four decades, is battling a groundswell of fury over his policies. The political capital, La Paz, has been besieged by low-income workers and members of the indigenous majority calling for his resignation. “The country needs order and is reaching breaking point,” the 58-year-old said at a public event in La Paz, renewing his appeal for dialogue. On Tuesday, the Bolivian
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
RSS