According to ShuFiMaFi, the names of candidates elected in the municipal elections of 1998 in the village of Bar Elias are: Abdel Nasser Fayçal Houcheymi, Rida Khaled el-Mays, Khaled Mohamed Seifeddine, Assem Fayez Arraji, Khaled Hassan Sarout, Walid Ali Hayek, Mawwas Mohamed Araji, Mohamed Ali Barbar, Kheir, Jamil el-Sayyed, Hassan Ali Chebli, Ayman Mahmoud Habache, Rida Omar Dallé, Kheireddine Ibrahim Mayta, Omar Abdallah Oday, Dib Ali Abou Askar, Ibrahim Mohamed Saffié, Khaled Sélim Ghazal, Mazhar Omar Teliani (June 1998).

No reports could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate on the mistreatment of candidates by the Syrian security forces, or on the slates of candidates for the position of mayor as well as other positions.

For general information on the 1998 municipal elections in Lebanon, please consult LBN32737.E dated 27 September 1999.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

ShuFiMaFi [Beirut]. June 1998. "Municipalities and "Mukhtars" 1998 elections." http://www.idrel.com.lb/idrel/lgppa/mmc98.htm [Accessed on 27 Sept. 1999]

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