Lebanon's political parties wrapped up their campaigns on Friday ahead of a high-stakes general election in which pro-Western factions are battling an alliance led by Iranian-backed Hezbollah. A series of rallies were held in towns around the country ahead of the midnight deadline to stop campaigning, with both sides warning voters that their ballots on Sunday will determine the future course of the country.

Thousands of expatriates flocked home to vote, many of them flown in by political parties amid expectations that in a tight race their votes may be decisive. Campaigning has for the most part been free of the violence and sectarian tensions that have plagued the country for years, but there are fears the situation coud escalate once the results are known. The vote will help determine whether the tiny Mediterranean country bordered by Syria and Israel continues to look West or whether it tilts more
towards Iran. Pollsters predict a very tight race for the 128-seat parliament with the  winner clinching victory by just two or three seats. "Whatever majority might be gained by either side in Lebanon's June 7
elections will be very slim," said Paul Salem, head of the Beirut-based Carnegie Middle East Centre.
"The country will remain almost evenly divided between the two camps, with major communities that make up the Lebanese polity lined up on either side of the political divide." A handful of key battleground constituencies are likely to be crucial in determining the outcome of the race with the Christian vote, which is divided between the two camps, set to tip the scale. "The fight will be fierce, but all polls since last summer show the opposition winning by a slight margin," said Abdo Saad, head of the Beirut
Centre for Research and Information. "Overall, our statistics show an opposition win by two or three seats."

Hezbollah, which fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006, remains blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States. And Washington has said it will review its aid to Lebanon in the light of the outcome of the election. Salem said one likely outcome of the race is a "hung parliament, with both
camps holding large minorities and independents, close to the president, holding the balance".
"This would very likely lead to a broad coalition government... with neither camp having a majority and both sides having veto power," he added. Lebanon's complex power-sharing system shares the 128 seats in parliament equally between Christians and Muslims. Top government posts are also allocated along confessional lines. The president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the speaker of parliament a Shiite Muslim. The current Sunni-led majority in parliament swept to power in 2005 amid a wave of popular discontent following the murder of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a massive car bombing in Beirut. The bombing forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence amid accusations -- strongly denied by Damascus -- of a Syrian hand in the attack.

It also marked the beginning of a turbulent period during which Hezbollah was thrust to the political forefront by its 34-day war with Israel in which 1,200 people died in Lebanon, most of them civilians.
Political unrest last year also saw a six-month vacancy in the presidency and sectarian clashes that left more than 100 people dead after Hezbollah staged a spectacular takeover of mainly Sunni parts of Beirut.