Hariri sweeps first round of election in Lebanon
AFP, Beirut
The son of murdered former premier Rafiq Hariri scored a clean sweep in the Beirut round of Lebanon's elections, the first in three decades held free of the grip of neighbouring Syria, officials said Monday. Saad Hariri's lists won in all three constituencies in the capital, where a total of 19 parliamentary seats were up for grabs, Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa told a news conference. But fewer than one-in-three voters cast ballots in Sunday's vote, leaving the anti-Syrian opposition without the massive popular endorsement it had hoped for given the sea-change in Lebanon's political scene since the last Syrian soldier left a month ago. Officials put the turnout at just 27 percent.
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