To the dismay of Lebanese who hoped for a fresh start after the Syrians pulled out last month, the opposition movement that pressured them to quit is splintering along the sectarian lines that traditionally rule at the ballot box.

Hariri's Feb. 14 killing brought together Christians, Druze and Sunni Muslims who held Syria responsible and took to the streets to demand that their larger neighbor end its 29-year military and intelligence presence in Lebanon.

The protests toppled the pro-Syrian government and security chiefs and secured an international probe into Hariri's death.

"Rafik al-Hariri's blood will not go to waste," Saad al-Hariri, the Sunni Muslim former prime minister's son, told a cheering audience.

"We will not let sectarian rancour affect the unity of Beirut and the Lebanese. We will not allow any ... sectarian strife the opportunity to sabotage the achievements that have been secured."

Cracks have emerged. Christian opposition figures wanted electoral boundaries to be redrawn before the polls, fearing their voices were lost in large, majority-Muslim districts.

But political sources say Hariri's bloc and Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt broke with them to strike a secret deal with the pro-Syrian Shi'ite Hizbollah and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri to keep an electoral law that serves them all well.

Lebanon's political system carefully distributes offices among the various religious minorities who fought a 15-year war that split the country into Christian and Muslim enclaves.

Voting takes place in four rounds between May 29 and June 19. Hariri's list is expected to sweep the first in mainly Sunni Beirut.

Hariri had been due to unveil his list last week, but delayed the announcement because of a dispute within the opposition over who should fill the one Maronite seat in Beirut.

Two candidates bowed out on Sunday, handing the seat to the only one remaining, Solange Gemayel, whose husband Bashir led the right-wing Phalange Party until he was assassinated in 1982, soon after being named president.

To his fathers list from the last elections in 2000, Saad Hariri introduced seven new candidates bringing the total to 19 members: Solange Gemayel for the Maronite seat, An-Nahar's general manager Gebran Tueni for one of the two Orthodox seats, Hezbollah's Amine Sherri for one of the Shiite seats, Ghazi Youssef, a close economic advisor to slain prmier Hariri, for another Shiite seat, Ammar Houry for one of the Sunni seats, former Minister Bahij Tabbara, a close ally of   the late Hariri, for another Sunni seat, and Bassem Shab for the Evagelical seat, replacing slain MP Bassel Fleihan, who died with Hariri.

The Late Hariri's 19-members Beirut Decision Bloc included: Rafik Hariri,  Nasser Qandi (replaced in the current list by Ghazi Yussef, Adnan Araqji (replaced in the current lsit by Bahije Tabbara), slain MP Bassel Fuleihan (replaced in the current list by Bassem Shab), Walid Eido, Mohammad Berjawi (Hezbollah, replaced in the curnet list by Amine Sheerri), Hagop Qassardjian, Yeghia Djiridjian, Jean Hogassapian, Serge Toursarkisian, Nabil de Freij, Ghinwa Jalloul, Mohammed Qabbani, Bassem Yamout, Michel Pharaon, Ghattas Khoury (replcaed in the current lsit by Solange Gemayel, Beshara Merhej (quit the bloc, replaced in the current list by Gebran Tueni), Ghazi Aridi and Atef Majdalani.

Few Surprises

The four electoral lists unveiled so far are expected to win under the existing electoral law.

Berri, a Shi'ite Muslim with close ties to Syria, is joining forces with the Hizbollah guerrilla group in southern Lebanon to run two joint tickets that are expected to win all 23 seats.

Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt announced an alliance on Sunday with his war-time foes, the Maronite Lebanese Forces (LF), in his Shouf mountain stronghold.

Most of the same faces are likely to return, but with supporters of anti-Syrian former general Michel Aoun, who returned from exile this month, also taking several seats along with some other Maronite opponents of Damascus.

With two weeks left and international pressure on Lebanon to hold elections on time, political sources say the law is unlikely to change. (with Reuters)