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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Lebanon Braced for Electoral Showdown After Court Appeal Failed |
| 2007-08-01 |
| Lebanon will face an electoral showdown on August 5 after intense efforts failed to postpone parliamentary by-elections in Metn and Beirut for the two seats vacated by the murders of Pierre Gemayal and Walid Eido failed. Former President Amin Gemayel, who announced he will run in the disputed by-elections to replace his slain son, met for two hours on Wednesday with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir. Gemayel confirmed that the electoral battle in Metn was underway. Sfeir on Tuesday intensified his efforts in a bid to forge a compromise between Gemayel and Gen. Michel Aoun, who announced that he and his allies the Tashnag Party and MP Michel Murr would jointly contest the Metn seat. MP Ibrahim Kanaan from Aoun's parliamentary bloc met Sfeir on Tuesday at the patriarch's summer mansion in north Lebanon. Sfeir also met March 14 Forces MP Samir Franjieh and former legislators Mansour Ghanem al-Bon and Fares Soueid. "If they want a battle, let it be a battle," Aoun told supporters at Dbayeh. "We are ready." Gemayel, however, told supporters in Bikfaya that the election showdown in Metn was a "battle aimed at preventing Syrian influence from returning to Lebanon." The daily An Nahar said Wednesday that an initiative launched from Rabieh calling for the withdrawal of the electoral contestants was turned down by Gemayel. |
| Posted by:mrp |