By Nada Bakri Hassan M. Fattah contributed reporting from Dubai and Christine Hauser and Graham Bowley contributed from New York.

By Zeina Karam Associated Press BIKFAYA, Lebanon -- Tens of thousands of Lebanese voted Sunday to replace two assassinated ruling party lawmakers in a tense showdown between the U.S.-backed government and its pro-Syrian opponents that is expected to influence this year's presidential election.

By Hassan M. Fattah Nada Bakri contributed reporting from Beirut.

The government suffered a blow Monday when a little-known opposition candidate defeated a former president in a tense parliament by-election that showed the divisions among Lebanon's once-dominant Christians.

By ROBERT FISK When, oh when, will the Lebanese C