Last-ditch Effort to Break Lebanese Impasse

Lebanon today faced the prospect of two competing governments as its parliament began a final effort to choose a new president before the incumbent's term runs out, an exercise virtually doomed to failure.

As tanks deployed around the parliament building, MPs gathered once more to go through the motions of trying to find a successor to the pro-Syrian president, Emile Lahoud, whose term expires at midnight.

With a boycott by the Hizbullah-led opposition and the lack of a quorum, the parliament was expected to adjourn yet again without a vote until a fresh attempt next week.

Lebanese fear that failure to elect a new president soon could lead to a power vacuum or two rival governments, in an ominous echo of the last two years of the 1975-90 civil war.

The anti-Syrian majority argues that the government of the prime minister, Fouad Siniora, should automatically take over presidential powers until a new head of state can be elected, a view supported by European foreign ministers visiting Beirut on a mediation effort.

The foreign ministers of France, Italy and Spain, which together provide most of the UN peacekeepers in the south of the country, last night held talks with Lebanese leaders but failed to reach a breakthrough.

The French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said: "A miracle is still possible ... but I think the issue is complicated."

Lahoud has threatened not to hand over his authority to Siniora's government on the grounds that it is unconstitutional, after all five of its Shia ministers resigned a year ago.

Lahoud could hand over power to the military, create a rival government or even declare a state of emergency, deepening existing political divides.

Three previous attempts since September to find his replacement failed because of disagreements between the country's feuding pro- and anti-Syrian politicians.

After two years of fierce political squabbling, inflamed by Israel's war against Hizbullah last summer, the two sides stand more divided than ever and many Lebanese fear more violence.

Many schools have closed and families are keeping their children at home. In recent nights, Beirut has witnessed a surge in fights between supporters of the rival factions. Security has been stepped up around Beirut's government buildings. Both sides have accused each other of arming their supporters.

In the past three years, there has been a spate of assassinations that has claimed the lives of eight anti-Syrian politicians and journalists.

The battle between Lebanon's factions reflects competing visions of the country's future. The anti-Syrian governing coalition wants a president who would pursue the international tribunal set up in the aftermath of the killing of the former prime minister Rafik Hariri, work to disarm Hizbullah and other non-governmental militias and reduce Syrian influence.

The Christian and Shia opposition, headed by Hizbullah and the former prime minister Michel Aoun, wants a president who would not align too firmly with the US and would maintain strong relations with Syria and Iran. The opposition remains divided over Hizbullah's right to remain armed.