by Jocelyne Zablit

BEIRUT - Celebratory gunfire rattled through Beirut early Monday, fireworks exploded and the champagne flowed after a Western-backed coalition declared victory in Lebanon's crucial election.

Lebanese waving the national flag and the blue banners of coalition leader Saad Hariri's Future party paraded through the streets of the capital and other areas as results emerged from Sunday's closely-fought election.

"Congratulations to you, congratulations to freedom, congratulations to democracy," a triumphant Hariri told cheering supporters as he claimed victory for his anti-Syrian coalition over a Hezbollah-led alliance.

"This is a big day in the history of democratic Lebanon.

"There is no winner and loser in these elections, the only winner is democracy and Lebanon," he added, calling on his supporters to refrain from provoking the rival camp.

"Let us celebrate our victory in a civilised manner," he said. "Let us not engage in provocation or violations that will affect this great day for democracy."

In the eastern city of Zahle, where the race was tight among rival Christian camps, supporters of the Hariri-led coalition known as March 14 popped champagne corks and paraded in the streets waving party flags.

Several people drank out of champagne bottles as fireworks rang out in the local town square.

"We have won, we have won," shouted the crowd. "The truth has prevailed," said one man in the southern coastal town of Sidon, where Prime Minister Fuad Siniora was running as a candidate and declared victory, crowds also turned out on the street to celebrate.

"We extend our hand to everyone in Sidon," Siniora told supporters. "I hope we can work together for the future of the city and Lebanese unity." In Beirut's mainly Christian Achrafiyeh neighbourhood, supporters of Nayla Tueni, who was seeking the seat once occupied by her slain father Gibran, paraded through the streets carrying her on their shoulder.

Police and soldiers were out in force in sensitive areas for fear of fighting between rival factions in a war-scarred country that remains deeply divided along sectarian lines.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, a member of Hariri's coalition, urged his supporters to refrain from street celebrations in order not to provoke opposing factions.

In May last year, Beirut was rocked by deadly street battles that saw Hezbollah and its supporters seize large swathes of Sunni areas of the capital as the country remained mired in a deep political crisis.

Hariri, whose father, the billionaire former prime minister Rafiq Hariri was killed in a Beirut car bombing in 2005, said he would work with the opposing camp for the sake of Lebanon.

Hariri's anti-Syrian coalition - which held the majority in the outgoing parliament - was expected to win 70 seats in the new 128-seat assembly and the Hezbollah alliance 58 seats, according to his Future television station. -AFP