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Beirut: Despite marathon discussions between pro-government and opposition leaders in Lebanon, the two groups have made no headway in electing a new president to prevent a power vacuum or the formation of two rival administrations.
With time running out, the election has become a showdown between Iran and Syria, who back the opposition, and the United States and its European allies, who support the parliamentary majority and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government. The Hezbollah group, which leads the opposition and is considered a terrorist group by the US, has warned against American influence in Lebanon and has said Washington's goals in the country will be thwarted.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was set to discuss Lebanon today with diplomats from France and Germany on the sidelines of a meeting on Iraq in Turkey.
French, Spanish and Italian foreign ministers visited Lebanon last month to urge leaders to settle the country's political crisis.
Parliament is scheduled to make another attempt to elect a president on Nov-ember 12, but like the two previous attempts in Sep-tember and October, the government and the opposition have been unable to reach a compromise ahead of the session.
Failure to pick a leader to replace President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires on November 24, could throw the country into further political chaos, potentially leading to violence.
On her flight to Europe on Thursday, Rice laid down strong conditions she said the US and Leb-anon's European backers demand in the upcoming election.
Talk of compromise
"There's a lot of talk right now about compromise in Lebanon," Rice said. "But any candidate for president, or any president, needs to be committed to the constitutional order, needs to be committed to Lebanon's sovereignty and independence." Parliamentary majority leader Sa'ad Hariri has held meetings with opposition politicians in the past two months, including Michel Aoun and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri. The discussions, which focused on establishing a compromise presidential candidate and the future political agenda, were inconclusive but slightly eased political and sectarian tensions across the country. However, the situation remains tense.
Rice said the next president must support UN Security Council resolutions protecting the country's sovereignty and commit to carry out a tribunal for any suspects in the killing two years ago of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri.
She said Lebanon's international backers want to ensure they are 'sending the right messages' to the country's anti-Syrian bloc that it not be forced into accepting "extraconstitutional measures or measures that undermine the programme they stand for."
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