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Beirut: The Lebanese parliament has adopted a new electoral law in a key move aimed at paving the way for legislative polls due next year.
The move was the final step of a peace deal struck in May between Lebanon's rival factions to end an 18-month political crisis that had brought the country to the brink of civil war.
The legislation, which amends one adopted in 1960, calls for several reforms including the redrawing of electoral districts and the holding of elections in one day rather than over several days.
Under the new law Lebanese expatriates will be allowed to vote in 2013. The peace accord struck in the Qatari capital Doha in May had called for a new electoral law, following the election of army chief Michel Suleiman as president and the formation of a national unity government.
Meanwhile Lebanese parliament's majority leader Saad Hariri lashed out at Syria in the wake of a deadly car bombing targeting the Lebanese army, accusing Damascus of posing "a clear and direct threat" to Lebanon. "The Lebanese will not let Bashar Al Assad's words go unnoticed," Hariri said, reacting to comments by the Syrian president.
Al Assad on Sunday told the head of Lebanon's journalists union, Melhem Karam, that northern Lebanon had become a base for extremists and posed a threat to his country.
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