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United Nations: The UN Security Council called on Monday for Lebanon's delayed presidential election to be free and fair as the United States suggested there was no need to find a consensus candidate acceptable to Syria.
A statement issued after a council meeting said its 15 members "recalled the need to hold free and fair presidential elections in conformity with the Lebanese constitution and without any foreign interference and influence."
"They reaffirmed the need for all parties to resolve all political issues on the basis of reconciliation and national dialogue," said the statement read out by current council president Marty Natalegawa of Indonesia.
The vote by the Lebanese parliament has twice been put off and is now set for November 12 as the country's deeply divided politicians look for a compromise candidate to succeed pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud amid fears the country could be heading back to civil war.
The run-up to the election has been marked by growing tension, with rival militias arming for conflict and assassins striking three times in the past year at the anti-Syrian bloc, most recently on September 19, when a car bomb killed parliament member Antoine Ghanem. Syria has denied involvement.
Anti-Syrian deputies want one of their own in the presidency but pro-Syrian Hezbollah and its allies have vowed to block any candidate of whom they do not approve. On September 25 they boycotted the election, denying parliament the two-thirds quorum needed to hold the vote.
Berry expected to postpone vote session for third time
Lebanon's parliament speaker is expected to postpone for the third time a special session to elect a president, officials said yesterday, as the deadline to replace the current pro-Syrian head of state nears.
"We are expecting the session to be postponed although we are keeping the door open for an election to take place on November 12," said Antoine Nasrallah, a spokesman for candidate Michel Aoun, who heads the opposition Change and Reform bloc in parliament.
He was referring to next Monday's parliament session called by speaker Nabih Berri to replace Emile Lahoud, whose mandate expires November 24.
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