[darrels joy]

Lebanon's pro-Western parties defeat Hezbollah coalition



A very good news for Lebanon.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon's pro-Western coalition declared victory early Monday, as local television stations reported the faction had successfully fended off a serious challenge by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its allies to grab the majority in parliament.

Official results for Sunday's election were not expected until later Monday, but the winners were already celebrating by shooting in the air, setting off fireworks and driving around in honking motorcades.

(Telegraph) The Iranian-backed organisation, which America and Britain consider a terrorist group, vied with a pro-Western coalition for control of the country’s 128-seat parliament. The election was so tightly fought that some parties paid for thousands of voters to return from overseas.

The television station owned by Saad Hariri, the majority leader, said his camp expected to win 70 seats in the parliament against 58 for the Hizbollah alliance.

(McClatchy) Fireworks echoed through Beirut neighborhoods as unofficial results indicated that Hezbollah and its Christian allies were dealt a surprising setback at the polls.

With soldiers looking on, jubilant supporters of the ruling coalition poured into the streets, waving flags, honking car horns and chanting political slogans.

We "will return as the majority," Samir Geagea, head of the powerful Lebanese Forces party that is part of the pro-Western ruling coalition known as March 14, told LBC television.

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