Hundreds of Syrians desperate to vote for Bashar al-Assad tried to rush their embassy near Beirut on Wednesday, scuffling with Lebanese troops using batons and sticks to beat the crowds back as voting abroad started ahead of Syria's national election on 3 June.
Tens of thousands of Assad supporters flocked to the hilltop embassy in a town south-east of the Lebanese capital to cast ballots, snarling traffic outside, keeping schoolchildren trapped in buses for hours and forcing some schools to cancel scheduled exams. Lebanon has more than a million Syrian refugees.
"With our souls, with our blood, we will sacrifice for you, Bashar" and "long live Syria!" were some of the chants heard from many in the crowd.
Despite the carnage in Syria, the country's president has retained significant support among large sections of the population, particularly among Christians, Alawites and other religious minorities.
That support has been reinforced as Islamic militants have gained more strength among the rebels fighting to topple Assad.
Assad comes from the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shia Islam that has ruled Syria for the past 40 years. The majority of rebels are Sunni Muslims.
In Lebanon, a country of 4.5 million people, which has long been dominated by its Syrian neighbour, the election turned into a massive show of support for Assad and his Lebanese ally, the Shia militant Hezbollah group.
Syrian opposition activists fighting to topple Assad and their western allies have denounced the election as a sham since it is taking place amid a brutal civil war and is almost certain to give the 49-year-old president a third seven-year term.
The government in Damascus, meanwhile, has touted the vote as the political solution to the three-year long conflict.
Early voting for Syrians living abroad was to take place in embassies and consulates around the world where staff have not defected to the opposition. Some European countries, including France and Germany, have said they will not allow Syrian expatriate voting to be held in their capitals.
The clashes in Yarze broke out when Syrian voters started pushing against the Lebanese soldiers in an effort to get into the compound. Soldiers beat the voters with batons and sticks and were even seen slapping a few people in an effort to control them.
Overwhelmed by the crowds and the heat, several people fainted. Red Cross volunteers ferried at least 20 people away.
Polls in Lebanon were to be open from 7am to 7pm, but Ali Abdel-Karim Ali, the Syrian ambassador in Beirut, said voting would be extended until midnight.
Inside the embassy voters pushed inside a small room with four ballot boxes and voted publicly. At times election workers were seen grabbing the ballots and stuffing them inside the boxes themselves. No one appeared to be checking who was voting or how many times.
People began arriving at dawn, some on the back of pickup trucks, others in cars and buses plastered with the Syrian white-red-and-black flag and pictures of Assad. Many abandoned their cars to walk the last few miles to the embassy because traffic was at a standstill.
"I came to vote for President Bashar Assad because we love him and he is a good man," said Abraham Dekermenjian, a Syrian of Armenian descent who had fled from his war-devastated city of Aleppo. Dekermenjian, formerly a plastic factory worker, spoke as he took a break from walking, sitting on the pavement, a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.
Wahid Ibrahim al-Beik, a 30-year-old minibus driver in Lebanon, had a Syrian flag tied around his neck and a headband around his forehead that read: "Syria is protected by God." He said: "I am going to vote for his excellency President Bashar Assad because there is no one like him and we don't accept anyone other than him."
There are about 1.1 million Syrians living in Lebanon as refugees. Even before the Syrian war Lebanon had close to a million Syrian workers who had been living in Lebanon for years.
Many among the refugees and opposition supporters abroad were expected to boycott the election. Two other candidates are in the race, but they are seen as mostly symbolic contenders and little known figures.
In the eastern Lebanese town of Marj, a tented settlement for refugees was half empty on Wednesday morning. Residents said some people were at work, others had gone to vote. Some said they felt compelled to vote out of fear that Syrian authorities were monitoring them.
"We don't want to vote, but if we don't and they don't let us go back to Syria, what do we do then?" said Kifah, a refugee from Syria's rebellious eastern Ghouta region near Damascus. She declined to give her last name because of security concerns.
In Amman, Jordan, where the government has supported the rebels trying to topple Assad, the picture was different. Dozens gathered outside the Syrian embassy to protest the voting. Some carried placards that read: "Anyone who votes has no morals."
A Syrian woman from Damascus, who identified herself as Um Mutazz al-Shaar, said: "My son was one of the people who started the protests against the regime. He was unarmed but they killed him." She said all those who were going to vote were doing so out of fear.
Lima Darazini, a pro-government voter from Aleppo, said she voted for Assad. "Why? Because we used to live in safety during his rule, and because we love him."
