Lebanon 2009 Election Results Pro-Western Win

In a speech to supporters, the majority leader in Lebanon's parliament, Saad al-Hariri, declared victory over a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran. Hariri called it a big day for democracy in Lebanon.

Representatives of Hezbollah's main Christian ally acknowledged the party's defeat.

It is not clear how many seats each coalition won because official results of the 2009 elections in Lebanon have not been released. Hezbollah and its allies had hoped to reverse the pro-Western coalition's small majority in the 128-member outgoing parliament.

Lebanese Interior Minister Ziyad Baroud said voter turnout in Sunday's election was at least 52 percent, exceeding the 45 percent results of the last parliamentary election in in Lebanon in 2005.

Security was tight, with about 50,000 soldiers and police deployed across the country to prevent violence. Some supporters of the rival camps engaged in brawls, but no major incidents were reported.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanon's 3.2 million eligible voters live abroad. Many Lebanese expatriates flew back to the country to vote, some taking advantage of free flights offered by major parties.

Some voters complained of having to wait several hours to cast a ballot.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters. By VOA News