Vote leaves Lebanon's Christians divided By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer

Vote leaves Lebanon's Christians divided By SCHEHEREZADE FARAMARZI, Associated Press Writer
57 minutes ago



BEIRUT, Lebanon - The deadlocked struggle between the pro-U.S. government and mainly Shiite opposition deepened Monday after a tense parliamentary election showed a sharp divide among Christians, a key swing bloc.

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Sunnis are the base for the ruling coalition, which opposes Syrian influence. Shiite Muslims, led by Hezbollah, overwhelmingly back the pro-Syrian opposition. Neither side has been able to decisively lure the Christians, around a third of Lebanon's 4 million people, to their camp.

That deadlock was reinforced when pro-government candidate Amin Gemayel, a former president and the head of one of Lebanon's most powerful Maronite Christian families, conceded defeat by a mere 418 votes in Sunday's election in the Christian stronghold of Metn north of Beirut.

The victor was little-known Kamil Khoury, who was backed by the most prominent Christian leader in the pro-Syrian opposition, Michel Aoun. Khoury took 39,534 votes to Gemayel's 39,116.

The result "reaffirms the existing stalemate," said Rami Khoury, an analyst with the Issam Fares think tank at the American University of Beirut. "It shows a very polarized Christian community."

Many fear the deepening stalemate may lead to the formation of competing governments if it is not resolved before the race to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term ends Nov. 23.

Under Lebanon's division of power among its sects, the presidency must be held by a Maronite Christian chosen parliament. Now, no Maronite leader can boost his bid among lawmakers by claiming to represent the entire community.

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's backers are hoping to finally put in place an anti-Syrian figure in the presidency to strengthen their power. They rose to control the government after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, ending Damascus' decadeslong control of Lebanon.

But the political struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition has sapped the anti-Syrian movement's power and paralyzed the government. Gemayel's loss is a setback for his potential as a candidate.

Aoun has said he will stand for the presidency. But the slimness of Kamil Khoury's victory Sunday damages his patron Aoun's attempts to present himself as the top Christian politician.

"Aoun is still a formidable figure but cannot really present himself as the leading Maronite figure anymore. That's probably the single most significant element in the election," said Rami Khoury, the analyst.

Gemayel, 65, was running in his home district with an implicit endorsement by the powerful Maronite patriarch. He was seeking to replace his son, Pierre Gemayel, who was gunned down in November in an attack that government supporters blamed on Syria.

Gemayel got more of the Maronite vote than his rival — 75 percent, according to press reports. But Aoun's candidate made up for it by winning other Christians' votes.

Gemayel supporters blamed his loss on the large ethnic Armenian community in the Metn district and said Kamil Khoury was not representative of the Maronites, who form a majority in the district and are the largest Christian sect in Lebanon.

Armenians are largely Catholic or Orthodox Christian.

Another election Sunday was to replace lawmaker Walid Eido, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a June car bombing there. A pro-government candidate, Mohammed al-Amin Itani, won that race easily.