Opposition declares victory in by-election

BEIRUT (Reuters) Test of strength weeks before electing new president.

A Maronite Christian opposition candidate won a by-election to Lebanon’s parliament yesterday, an opposition leader said, dealing a blow to the country’s Western-backed ruling coalition.
Tens of thousands of Lebanese voted to choose successors to two assassinated anti-Syrian lawmakers in the latest showdown between the government and its opponents.

Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said his candidate closely beat Amin Gemayel, a former president and a key member of the ruling coalition, in a by-election in the Metn district northeast of Beirut.

The race to win the Maronite seat left empty after Pierre Gemayel was killed in November had shaped up as a test of strength between the ruling coalition and the opposition weeks before parliament was due to elect a Maronite as president.

There was no official confirmation of Aoun’s announcement but opposition sources said Camille Khoury had won by a margin of some 500 votes from around 75,000 cast.

Earlier, unofficial results showed pro-government candidate Mohammad Amin Itani winning by a large margin the Sunni Muslim seat in a Beirut district vacated by the killing of MP Walid Eido in June.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora hailed the peaceful by-elections as a civilised response to political assassination.

“Democracy in Lebanon will defeat terrorism,” he said in a statement.

A nine-month-old political struggle has caused the worst civil strife since the 1975-1990 war, and some feared a new outbreak of violence during voting.

But no major incidents were reported at polling stations in the Christian heartland, where turnout was reported to be at around 45 per cent.

Thousands of Lebanese troops and police tightened security in the area, where flags and posters of the rival parties adorned balconies, electricity poles and cars.

Both Aoun and Gemayel, Pierre’s father and leader of the Phalange Party, had savaged each other during campaigning and both camps exchanged charges of forgery and vote-buying on election day.

Gemayel is a key player in the anti-Syrian majority coalition, which is supported by the United States, France and Saudi Arabia. Aoun is the main Christian leader in the opposition, which includes Hizbollah.

An independent monitoring body, Lebanese Association for Democratic Elections, said the polls were generally democratic but reported some violations.

The by-election for a Sunni seat in a Beirut district to chose a successor to Eido, who was assassinated in a car bomb attack in June, was a low-key affair. The winner, Itani, is a member of the main Sunni Future group of Saad Hariri.

The opposition had not launched a full-hearted challenge in Beirut due to the support Hariri enjoyed in that district. Turnout was around 20 per cent.

“This battle is to complete (Lebanon’s) sovereignty, confirm Cedar Revolution and accomplish the goals of the independence uprising,” Gemayel said, in reference to street protests that forced Syria to end its 29-year military presence back in 2005.

“Our main goal is participation (in government). We extend our arm to all the Lebanese to rebuild Lebanon and to salvage it from this big crisis,” Khoury said after voting.

Source: Bahrain Tribune.

Liberia loses 'blood diamonds' label

Source: CNN.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to lift a ban on Liberian diamond exports imposed in 2001 when so-called "blood diamonds" were being used to fuel civil wars in west Africa.

Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, the current council president, said the vote was "a recognition of the progress made in Liberia" to ensure diamonds are mined legally.

The vote is "a reflection of our confidence in that country, in its leadership," Jones Parry said.

Liberia applied March 27 to join the Kimberley Process, a voluntary 71-nation group created out of the furor over diamond-funded wars in Sierra Leone and Angola.

The group, whose members agree to trade only certified diamonds, has helped conflict diamonds drop to less than 1 percent of those sold worldwide, from about 4 percent previously.

After the vote, Liberia's U.N. Ambassador Nathaniel Barnes said he had just learned that the Kimberley committee was going to accept Liberia's application as a result of the council's action, "so as of now, we are officially a part of the Kimberley Process."

Barnes called the council's decision to lift the ban "a vote of confidence ... (and) support of our very strong political will to do the right thing for Liberia and Liberians."

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf inherited one of the world's poorest countries when she took office in January 2006. Liberia had been battered by back-to-back civil wars from 1989 to 2003 that left 200,000 people dead and displaced half the country's 3 million people.

Her government has pressed for the lifting of the diamond sanctions imposed in May 2001 to stop former President Charles Taylor from using government revenues from diamonds to fuel civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone.

"We welcome the lifting of the sanctions because it will, to some extent, provide job opportunities for our people," said Sirleaf spokesman Cyrus Badio. "This is something that we are in bad need of. Proceeds from the diamond industry will be used for the benefit of the country."

Barnes said he expects the lifting of diamond sanctions to have an "incredibly positive" impact because it will provide jobs in a country with an 85 percent unemployment rate.

"Anywhere on the globe, that's unacceptable, but it's further exacerbated by the fact that a large portion of these unemployed are ex-combatants," he said. "So by the removal of the sanctions on diamonds, and the appropriate monitoring mechanisms in place, we'll be able to put people to work, which is one of the biggest challenges we have right now."

Historically, Liberia has used very old technology -- sifting surface soil and sand with pans -- to find diamonds, "but we think with new technology there's incredible potential for Liberia," Barnes said.

That will take foreign capital, he said, because "we do not have the resources domestically to do it."

The Security Council said it would review its decision to lift diamond sanctions in 90 days after reviewing a report by a U.N. panel of monitors.

"This is an example of sanctions working and we're pleased that Liberia has turned this corner in its history," said the U.S. Mission's deputy spokesman, Ben Chang.

Liberia is still subject to an arms embargo, a travel ban on certain individuals, and an asset freeze against Taylor and his top officials.