Anti-poll strike hits Lebanon

Beirut (AFP) - A general strike to protest against tomorrow's elections paralysed Christian areas of Lebanon yesterday, but the pro-Syrian government said the first parliamentary poll for 20 years was set to go ahead as planned.

The Maronite Christian patriarch, Nasrallah Sfeir, rejected an offer for Sunday's polling to be held only in the Syrian- controlled eastern Bekaa, where Christians are in the minority. A source close to the patriarch said that had been ruled out 'because the Christians feel in their hearts for the whole of Lebanon and not just for the Christian areas'.