Michel Aoun's return from exile has split the anti-Syrian opposition
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Early results in Lebanon's key third round of elections indicate a strong showing for former Christian army chief and prime minister Michel Aoun.
Mr Aoun, a long term critic of Syria, demanded the issue of Syrian influence in Lebanon be put aside and allied himself with pro-Syria candidates.
The vote is the first in 30 years to be held without Syrian troops in Lebanon.
Mr Aoun's showing is a blow to the main anti-Syrian opposition, which could now be denied a majority in the parliament.
The task of charting Lebanon's new political course after the crisis sparked by the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri may now be more difficult, correspondents say.
The latest poll will decide almost half of the seats in the new parliament - 58 out of a total of 128. Turnout was around 50% - higher than in past polls.
Complicated task
Official results are not due until later on Monday, but one of the leaders of the main anti-Syrian opposition, Walid Jumblatt, conceded that Mr Aoun had prevailed in the latest stage of voting.
"I acknowledge that he won," said Mr Jumblatt, who was himself re-elected unopposed.
"The Christian extremists have vanquished the moderates," he said.
He accused Mr Aoun, who recently returned from 14 years of exile after being forced out by Damascus, of serving Syrian interests.
"They brought Aoun back to use him as an instrument of tension among the Christians," said Mr Jumblatt.
Mr Aoun, who as prime minister in the late 1980s led a campaign to expel Syrian troops, has allied himself with pro-Syrian candidates from the Druze community.
The Christian extremists have vanquished the moderates 
Commenting on the initial results, Mr Aoun said he would be willing to talk to other factions in the new parliament.
He said he would work for a new election law, shorten parliament's four-year term and tackle corruption.
The two previous rounds saw pro and anti-Syrian candidates win almost an equal number of seats.
In this latest round, candidates backed by the pro-Syrian Islamic movement Hezbollah are reported to have done well in Shia Muslim areas.
Sectarian seats
Syria was forced to pull out its army from Lebanon following massive international pressure after the assassination of Hariri in February.
His killing was blamed on Syria. Damascus denied the allegation.
Seats in the country's parliament are divided equally between Christians and Muslims, even though Christians represent less than half of the Lebanese population.
Within each religion, seats are also allocated to each sect, from Greek Orthodox to Sunnis and Druze.
Lebanon's president is always a Maronite Christian, the only non-Muslim head of state in the Arab world.
Next Sunday, the final round of voting takes place in north Lebanon.
