Lebanon President Choice Stalled

Lebanon's parliament has again delayed choosing the country's next president to allow more time for its pro- and anti-Syrian factions to agree a consensus candidate.

MPs from the ruling coalition and the Hizbullah-led opposition had been due to meet today to pick a successor to the incumbent, the pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud, whose term ends later this month.

Rival factions in the 128-member house have so far been unable to agree, fuelling fears that Lebanon could return to its most serious political crisis since the civil war.

Lebanon's president is by convention a member of the Maronite Christian community and is chosen by MPs, not by popular vote. A new parliamentary session has been scheduled for November 12, Nabih Berri, the speaker, announced yesterday.

The postponement followed a weekend visit to Beirut by the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Spain, concerned that the failure to find a new president could lead to a power vacuum or the creation of two rival governments. All three countries have forces serving with the Unifil peacekeeping force in south Lebanon.

The government of Fouad Siniora has been paralyzed since last November when opposition forces withdrew ministers from the coalition.

Tensions have risen since Antoine Ghanem of the Maronite Phalange party and five others were killed in a car bombing before the last parliamentary session in September. Mr Ghanem was the sixth MP to be killed since 2005.