Lebanon's parliamentary polls kick off with three uncontested seats in Beirut

BEIRUT: Lebanon's parliamentary elections kicked off ahead of schedule over the weekend as three uncontested seats in Beirut returned Druze, Shiite and Maronite MPs ahead of official polls which begin in less than two weeks.

Solange Gemayel, the widow of slain president and Christian warlord Bashir Gemayel, was given  Beirut's only Maronite Christian seat after sitting MP Ghattas Khoury, a member of the parliamentary bloc of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, withdrew to allow her to join the candidate list of Hariri's son, Saad.

The third Maronite candidate, Beirut municipal council member Georges Tyan, also withdrew yesterday morning leaving Gemayel the sole candidate.

Son of Slain Lebanon Leader to Seek Post

By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, Associated Press Writer

BEIRUT, Lebanon - A son of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri promised Sunday to achieve his father's plan for a sovereign Lebanon and formally announced a list of candidates for Beirut's 19 parliamentary seats.

In an apparent swipe at Syria, which dominated Lebanon's politics for nearly three decades before withdrawing its troops last month, Saad Hariri told a crowd of hundreds that every vote is a "vote against the criminals who killed Rafik Hariri and tried to enslave Lebanon."

Meanwhile, the Druse leader Walid Jumblatt announced an election coalition with his former civil war enemies, the Lebanese Forces, who were the nation's most powerful Christian militia during the 1975-90 civil war.

Central Bank: Lebanon's debt rises $1 billion

Lebanon's total public debt rose to the equivalent of $33.9 billion by the end of February from $32.9 billion a month earlier, the Central Bank said in its monthly bulletin.

External public debt comprised $18.99 billion of the total. However, banking sources estimate the debt now stands at $35 billion. In official figures also released Saturday, the bank said Lebanon recorded a $777.4 million balance of payments deficit in the first two months of 2005, compared with a surplus of $203 million in the same period last year. It recorded a $784.6 million deficit in February alone. Banque du Liban said the deficit reflected a drop in its net foreign assets but an increase in those of banks and financial institutions.

German attorney to head Hariri investigation

A German prosecutor has been named by the UN to lead an investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, after the first two candidates for the job backed out.

Detlev Mehlis, the senior public prosecutor in the Berlin attorney general's office, has overseen terrorism and organized crime cases as well as investigations into trans-national crime, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement.

The Security Council approved the probe into Hariri's February 14 assassination on April 8, but the first two candidates turned down the job, UN officials said. The investigation is expected to include more than 50 people, administrative and security staff are also expected to be included in the investigation.