04 September 2004	Saturday	18 Rajab 1425

BEIRUT, Sept 3: Lebanon's parliament voted overwhelmingly on Friday to extend the term of Syrian-backed President Emile Lahoud, despite a UN Security Council resolution warning Damascus against interfering in Lebanon.

Ninety-six deputies voted in favour of a constitutional amendment extending Lahoud's six-year mandate, with 29 opposed and three absent. Fireworks boomed over Beirut's city centre, which security forces had locked down ahead of the vote in parliament.

Most deputies are allied to Syria, which has some 17,000 troops and final authority in Lebanon. The results of the vote had been a foregone conclusion since a hastily convened cabinet last week recommended the amendment.

Some deputies said Syrian authorities had forced their hand on the issue. "It is a sad scene, and a black day in the history of Lebanon," said MP Nayla Moawwad, one of those who voted against the amendment. "We feel sorry for ourselves."

The move came on the heels of meetings between Syrian President Bashar al Assad and senior Lebanese officials which both advocates and critics of Syria's influence in Lebanon said made the will of Damascus clear.

It also prompted a US-drafted Security Council resolution telling Syria to withdraw its forces from Lebanon and warning against foreign interference in Beirut's presidential election.

The council voted 9-0 with six abstentions - the minimum vote possible - for the resolution after Washington and co-sponsor France agreed under pressure not to mention Syria by name, although it is the only foreign country with forces in Lebanon.

Shortly before Friday's parliamentary vote, US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher called it "a mockery of democratic principles". "It's clear the Lebanese parliamentarians have been pressured and even threatened by Syria and its agents to make them comply," he said.

SYRIA CLAIMS VICTORY: Most abstaining council members said they agreed with Lebanon that the measure interfered in the country's internal affairs and would not contribute to a Middle East peace.

Syria branded the UN resolution a failure, arguing it showed there was no international consensus behind Washington, which is pressuring Syria over its support for Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas and refusal to renounce weapons of mass destruction. -Reuters