Egypt's Brotherhood claims majority in parliament vote
By REUTERS
CAIRO - The Muslim Brotherhood claimed in its own newspaper on Friday it had scored an outright majority in an election for Egypt's upper house of parliament after having emerged as the top party in an earlier lower house vote.The official results of the upper house vote are due to be released on Sunday, however, turnout was low for the two-round poll which began on Jan. 29.The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice newspaper said the Islamist group's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) had won 107 seats, or 59 percent of the upper house's 180 seats.It said another Islamist Party, the Salafist Nour Party, won 46 seats. Among secularist and liberal parties, Wafd won 19 seats and the Egyptian Bloc seven. An independent candidate took one seat.The parliamentary votes, which began in late November, are the first since a popular uprising toppled former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak a year ago.
Lebanon hopes for neighborly relations in message to new Syria gov't
