Beirut, Lebanon,  (UPI) -- Former renegade Lebanese army commander Gen. Michel Aoun emerged from the third round of Lebanon's general elections as the Christians' new prominent leader. 

Aoun's stunning victory in the most crucial round of elections that took place Sunday and the defeat of the existing Christian moderate opposition candidates may well weaken Muslim opposition demands to force President Emile Lahoud out of office.

His followers and other candidates running on his slate won 15 out of 16 seats in the Christian Maronite heartland of North Metn and Kesrouan-Byblos. Pierre Gemayel, son of former President Amin Gemayel, was the only candidate on another list to have also won.

Farid al-Khazen, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut, said the heavy turnout in Sunday's elections in North Metn region came as a surprise. He was among the Aoun-backed winning candidates.

According to the Ministry of Interior, the turnout reached 54 percent in Mount Lebanon and 52 percent in eastern Lebanon.

Al-Khazen explained that the Christians, who voted in great numbers, reflected a "grudge and a persisting feeling that they are being targeted."

"We did not expect such a degree of popular reaction. It was unprecedented," he told United Press International. "It was the need for a Christian commander who is able to object and confront."

Aoun, the 72-year-old former army commander and a key player in the last years of Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, returned last month from 15 years of exile in France.

His staunch opposition to Syria's military presence and interference in Lebanon's political affairs, his pledge to fight widespread corruption and his opposing stance against religious division, has attracted a growing number of Christians and allowed him to reach out to many Muslims.

After Syria pulled out its troops and intelligence services from Lebanon last April, Aoun declared his enmity towards Syria over. He said his focus shifted towards rebuilding an independent and sovereign Lebanon, free of corruption and confessional divisions.

Ironically, this did not prevent him from concluding political alliance with former Minister of Interior Michel Murr, once a powerful pro-Syrian ally in the North Metn region.

"This was a last-minute electoral alliance. After the Syrians withdrew from Lebanon, rules of the game changed," said al-Khazen. "Demanding Syria's pullout is no longer an issue."

This prompted Druze leader and main opposition figure Walid Jumblatt -- whose own list scored a sweeping victory in the Shouf mountains and the district of Baabda Aley -- to blast Aoun for allowing himself to be used by Syria and its Lebanese allies to weaken the Christians. Jumblatt said it would allow another intervention by Damascus under the pretext of stabilizing Lebanon.

"(Syrian President) Bashar Assad and (Lebanese President) Emile Lahoud are intelligent. They brought Michel Aoun (back to Lebanon) to create tension with Hezbollah so to say to the Americans we can control the situation," Jumblatt said in televised remarks Sunday night.

"We are back to 1976 when the Syrians entered Lebanon to protect the Christians and Lebanon was destroyed."

Jumblatt described Aoun's success as "a victory of extremism" over moderation -- accusations that were strongly rejected by the general and his followers.

Among those who lost to Aoun was Nassib Lahoud, a well-respected moderate Christian opposition figure and a favorite presidential candidate. His defeat eliminates another stumbling bloc in Aoun's aspirations to become Lebanon's next president.

Al-Khazen rejected Jumblatt's hinting of another possible internal war in Lebanon and said this was not an issue of extremism or moderation.

"The elections took place in a competitive way and it is a healthy, civilized and democratic process. It is the most honest elections," he said.

"Was anyone killed in these elections? No. So why refer to civil war and extremism?"

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.