In Pictures

In Pictures: Syrians in Lebanon head to polls

Tens of thousands flocked to the heavily fortified area surrounding the Syrian embassy as expat voting began.

Thousands of Syrians living in Lebanon have started voting at their country(***)s embassy ahead of Syria(***)s June 3 presidential election.

29 May 2014

Syrians living in Lebanon began voting at a polling station set up at the Syrian embassy in the town of Yarzeh, near Beirut.

The Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) quoted the Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdul Karim Ali, as saying that the voting process may have to be extended until tomorrow.

Ali told the NNA, “Syrians who have not been able to register their names, or have been prevented from voting can go to one of the polling stations on the Syrian side of the Lebanese-Syrian border on June 3.”

The Syrian presidential election will be held in Syria on June 3. It will be the first multi-candidate presidential election in Syria since the Assad family took power in 1971.

Most among the crowd gathered outside the embassy in central Beirut on Wednesday appeared to be supporters of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, reflecting expectations that those who oppose him will not vote.

The vote, held at 39 embassies around the world on Wednesday and in the government-held territories of Syria next Tuesday, is expected to give Assad a third seven-year term in office.

Officials had to spray water at the crowds gathering near the embassy because of the searing heat in Beirut.

Until now, like his father and predecessor Hafez who ruled with an iron fist from 1970 to 2000, Bashar secured his two previous mandates through a referendum.

Syrian opposition and its Western allies have denounced the election as a sham designed to lend Assad a veneer of electoral legitimacy.

The United States has called the election a (***)parody of democracy(***).

Much of the international community has criticised Damascus for holding an election with the civil war still raging.

Staunch Damascus allies Russia and Iran are supporting the vote and Tehran has said it will send election observers.

Since early morning, tens of thousands of Syrians flocked to the heavily fortified area surrounding the Syrian embassy in Lebanon as expatriate voting began.

The Syrian ambassador to Lebanon, Ali Abdel Karim Ali, told Al Jazeera that only pre-registered Syrians who have entered Lebanon legally could vote.

Chanting for Assad broke out periodically on the highway, in front of the embassy and even in the polling room. (***)God, Syria, Bashar only,(***) they chanted.

With some of Lebanon(***)s one million Syrian residents and refugees trying to cast their votes, this was the most visible mass gathering the country has witnessed in the past few years and possibly, the largest-ever gathering of Syrians outside their country.