Opposition groupings have made further gains in Lebanon's first municipal elections in thirty-five years.

Preliminary results of the second stage of voting, held on Sunday, showed that supporters of the jailed former Christian militia leader, Samir Geagea, took his hometown of Bishiri.

Nearly two-thousand council seats and more than one-hundred and fifty mayoral positions in the north of the country were being decided during the second round.

In the first stage of voting, in the Mount Lebanon area, the Christian opposition and the Shi'ite group, Hezbollah, defeated government-backed candidates in many municipalities.

Voting in other parts of Lebanon -- except in the Israeli-occupied south -- will take place over the next two weeks.