Lebanese parliamentary session postponed, opposition leader says

Dec 21, 2007, 16:36 GMT

Beirut - Lebanon's Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said Friday that a parliamentary session scheduled for Saturday with the purpose of electing a new president will not go ahead, as no agreement had been reached between rival political factions.

'There will no session but we hope for something positive after the holidays,' Aoun said during a press conference.

Parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri, whose role normally involves making such announcements, did not issue any statement regarding postponement of Saturday's session.

Lebanon's parliament is set to meet for a 10th attempt to elect a president, but hopes of a breakthrough seem bleak despite US pressure on Syria to stay out of Lebanese internal affairs.

'Saturday's session may be postponed,' a source close to the anti- Syrian parliamentary majority said. 'Things have gone back to point zero, and contacts seem to have ceased between the majority and the opposition.'

The session comes amid what Lebanese observers describe as 'muscle-flexing' between the United States, which has declared its support for the Beirut government, and Syria, which along with its ally Iran backs the opposition.

On Thursday, US president George W Bush said: 'It is very important that Lebanon's democracy succeed. I worked with the French to get Syria out of Lebanon, and Syria needs to stay out of Lebanon. Syria needs to let the process in Lebanon work.'

Syria ended its 30-year military presence in Lebanon following the assassination of former premier Rafik Hariri in 2005, for which it was widely blamed. Damascus has vehemently denied responsibility for the killing.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused Washington of blocking what he called Syrian and French efforts to end the Lebanese deadlock.

Meanwhile the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is heading the opposition, accused Bush of trying to foil attempts to reach a compromise over the presidency.

'No, Bush, your orders cannot be implemented in Lebanon and your tutelage is rejected,' Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Kassem said in a statement on Friday.

Lebanon has been without a president since Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term on November 23, with no successor having been agreed upon.

Both the anti-Syrian majority and the opposition have agreed in principle to elect army chief Michel Suleiman as a compromise president, but they continue to bicker on how to amend the constitution to allow a public servant to become president.

Bush has said if both sides in Lebanon cannot agree on the presidency, the majority could proceed to a majority-plus-one vote to elect a new president who would then be recognised by the international community.

Anti-Syrian MP Nayla Moawad said Friday that her camp was not seeking to impose a president, preferring to pursue efforts for a compromise accord with the opposition.

But Moawad stressed that 'recent remarks by Syrian officials prove that the Syrian regime has taken the decision to block the presidential vote.'

In his annual Christmas message on Friday, influential Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite Catholic community from which Lebanon's president is usually drawn, urged all parties to unite and end Lebanon's political vacuum.

'We have to reject hatred ... and stop seeking personal interests at the expense of national interests,' he said.

'The presidency has been vacant for more than half a month, parliament has been paralysed for about a year and our government is limping with some cabinet members pursuing a strike,' he said.