[originaltext] Parliamentary elections have begun in Lebanon with the people

Parliamentary elections have begun in Lebanon with the people of Beirut voting in the first round. These are the first elections in 30 years to be held without Syrian troops occupying the country. And anti- Syrian opposition parties are expected to do well. As Jim Mill reports from Beirut:
   "With virtually no competition for the Beirut seats, it wasn’t surprising that voting got off to a slow start here. Many of the capital’s 19 seats had already been decided before polling even started. There was no challenge to the candidates from the list headed by Sand Hariri and his allies. It was the assassination of his father, the former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri that triggered a wave of popular anger against the Syrians, leading to their withdrawal last month. The anti-Syrian alliance is widely expected to win a majority in the new parliament. The outgoing assembly was largely pro-Syrian. Syria’s influence has now been sharply cut back."