Lebanon situation "critical", Christian leader warns

Nov 25, 2007, 14:47 GMT

Beirut - The head of Lebanon's Maronite Christian community warned Sunday that the political situation in the country is 'critical' following the expiry of Emile Lahoud's term as president and the failure to agree on a successor.

Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir during Sunday prayers urged all Lebanese leaders to put aside their differences in the interests of the country.

Sources close to Sfeir meanwhile said that Lebanon's Christian community are concerned about the country's highest political office remaining vacant, especially as according to Lebanon's confessional power-sharing system it should be occupied by a Maronite.

'Lebanon during this political vacuum is at a critical juncture in its history,' one source said, adding that the situation would end in 'either stability or chaos.'

Such fears were echoed on Sunday by Christian worshippers across Beirut.

'The Christians are being marginalized and I fear there will not be a president for Lebanon,' said Christian Augette Sarkis. 'We are living in a country with no head and we face a dark future.'

Since the expiry of Lahoud's term on Friday and with Lebanon's rival political factions failing to agree on a consensus successor, the president's powers passed to Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, a Sunni Muslim.

Prior to leaving office Lahoud had declared the transferral of his powers to the Lebanese army, but under the constitution the army commander must take orders from the premier if the presidential office remains vacant.

Lahoud and the opposition led by the pro-Syrian Hezbollah movement have considered Seniora's Western-backed government illegitimate since the resignation of all Shiite Muslim cabinet members last year.

Michel Aoun, a Christian opposition politician, warned against the cabinet taking over the role of the presidency, and called on all Lebanese Christian political and religious leaders to meet for talks to resolve the matter.

Meanwhile, the army's presence was increased on the streets of the capital Beirut and checkpoints set up to secure law and order.

The stalemate has prompted fears of a power vacuum or the formation of two rival governments, as was the case at the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

The ruling coalition, which has 68 deputies in the 127-member parliament, vowed to proceed with a simple majority vote if no agreement is reached on a successor to Lahoud during a parliamentary session scheduled for November 30.

But Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement, has said that any such move would 'be tantamount to a coup.'

Hezbollah's Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naeem Kassem warned on Sunday that a presidential election would not be held unless all parties, the opposition and the anti-Syrian majority, agree on the candidate.

Political observers in Beirut see the crisis in Lebanon as an extension of the regional confrontation pitting the United States against predominantly Shiite Iran and Lebanon's former powerbroker, Syria.

Progress in the Middle East peace parley in Annapolis beginning Tuesday will help break the deadlock, analysts say.