According to official results of The 2005 Elections in Mount Lebanon , the list of General Michel Aoun scored a sweeping victory in the …

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Firebrand former general Michel Aoun scored a stunning win on Monday in Lebanon's parliamentary elections to become the main Christian political force in the country, only weeks after returning from exile.

Aoun, a prominent figure during Lebanon's civil war, dealt a major blow to the existing Christian opposition and its hopes of securing strong representation in the new 128-seat parliament and charting a course away from Syrian influence.

The polls, being held over four weekends ending on June 19, are the first without the presence of Syrian troops for three decades and are set to usher in an assembly with an anti-Syrian majority for the first time since the 1975-1990 civil war. But Aoun's win could complicate the new political landscape in already highly factionalized Lebanon as it boosts the chances of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud staying in power. Aoun has questioned opposition demands for Lahoud to go.

ALEY, Lebanon - Nearly half the seats in Lebanon's parliament will be decided Sunday in the third round of a four-stage election held as Syria continues to cast a shadow over its tiny neighbor.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. in Mount Lebanon, the mountain region surrounding Beirut and stretching north and south of the city, and in the eastern Bekaa Valley near the border with Syria.

The vote in Mount Lebanon was considered a key to the election. It is the country's most populous region and a patchwork of religious sects and political factions that will decide Lebanon's direction after the departure of Syria's troops earlier this year.

Michel Aoun, a formerly staunch anti-Syrian army commander who has recently formed alliances with pro-Syrian factions, was among the first to vote Sunday. The Christian leader voted at a polling station in his hometown of Haret Hreik, where he was greeted by cheers and applause from about 200 supporters.

BEIRUT, - After two humdrum rounds of legislative elections, Lebanon is poised for a heated contest Sunday that could determine whether an anti-Syrian coalition will muster a parliamentary majority and maintain momentum to thrust the country into a new era.

In the most critical round of a four-phase election, Christian and Muslim voters in the central Mount Lebanon region and the eastern Bekaa Valley will decide on nearly half of the 128 seats in parliament.

At stake domestically is the new legislature's ability to dislodge remnants of Syrian control, after a 29-year military presence, from key institutions including the presidency. Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon this spring, but the country continues to wield considerable influence.

"Syria is out of our geography, but not out of our politics or the region's geopolitics," Rafik Khoury, a columnist with the Al Anwar daily newspaper, said in an interview. "The difference is that a year ago, we were on death row. Now our sentence has been reduced to a one- or two-year prison term."