BEIRUT, Lebanon: Much of Lebanon's Shiite community praises Hezbollah for bringing them out of the shadows and into the political limelight.

Maha, a Shiite resident of southern Lebanon, sums up her community's newfound pride thanks to Hezbollah: "Before we were nothing, but now we can walk with our heads held high."

Ahead of Sunday's key legislative vote, which pits a Hezbollah-led alliance against the current parliamentary majority, many residents of Lebanon's south swear by the group's charismatic chief Hassan Nasrallah.

"Of course I will vote for Hezbollah," Maha said in her shoeshop in the southern town of Naqura near the Israeli border. "It has made us proud as Shiites, as residents of the south, and as Lebanese."

After the withdrawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in 2000 following a 22-year presence, the Shiite party fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006 and emerged as a major powerbroker in Lebanon.

"We support the resistance 100 percent," said Ali Attieh, 48, as he walked through the market in Qana village. "Hezbollah defended our territory and created a balance of terror with Israel."

Israel estimates that Hezbollah has about 42,000 missiles which can reach its territory.

"If Nasrallah ever lays down their arms, he will be a traitor in the eyes of the Shiites," said Hussein, a carpenter from the village of Siddiqin.

The party's arsenal lies at the heart of Lebanon's national dialogue, which groups rival political leaders in an attempt to find agreement on Hezbollah's arms and on a unified national defence strategy.

Lebanon's current majority insists that the state alone should have weapons.

Most of those interviewed by AFP said Hezbollah had proved a viable alternative to the state not only in terms of defence, but also in terms of social welfare.

Like many political and religious movements in Lebanon, Hezbollah runs a network of schools, hospitals and charity associations that has taken the place of state-run services and facilities.

"Hezbollah is more useful than the state," said Ali, another resident of Qana. "If you're sick and you need help, the party helps you get admitted to hospital."

Shiite areas in Lebanon are relatively impoverished and rely heavily on remittances from the Lebanese diaspora in Africa and elsewhere.

In addition to being a resistance movement and social welfare network, Hezbollah has secured Shiites a key position in Lebanon's complex political balance, upholding a mission launched by Imam Mussa Sadr in the 1970s.

Sadr, who founded the Amal movement now led by parliament speaker Nabih Berri, vanished without trace in Libya almost 30 years ago. The cleric is still regarded by the Lebanese Shiite community as a key spiritual guide.

"The Shiites were not a structured community," said Boutros Labaki, a Lebanese historian and economist.

"The community started by Mussa Sadr gained momentum with the birth of Hezbollah and strategic support from Iran and Syria."

Hussein Bitar, a bank manager in the coastal city of Tyre, said the Shiites had "suffered from the political monopoly" of Lebanon's Maronite Christians and Sunni Muslims before the rise of Sadr and then Hezbollah.

Hezbollah was founded in 1982 and entered government for the first time in 2005.