Lebanon fails to pick president, but tension eases

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's deadlocked parliament failed to elect a new head of state on Tuesday, but the anti-Syrian majority and the opposition renewed a dialogue to seek agreement before the house meets again on October 23.

Most MPs from Hezbollah and its opposition partners stayed away from the session, blocking the Western-backed majority from choosing a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

With security fears running high, thousands of Lebanese troops and police protected the assembly building in central Beirut where pro-government MPs arrived under armed escort from a heavily guarded seafront hotel where many had been staying.

Parliament's failure to find the two-thirds majority to elect a president in a first round of voting reflects deep fissures between factions which want to align the country with the West and those which favor close ties with Syria and Iran.

"Despite everything, we continue to seek constructive dialogue (with the opposition) ... to salvage the presidential election and save Lebanon from the danger of falling into a vacuum," said Farid Makari, deputy house speaker, reading a statement for the anti-Syrian bloc known as March 14.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a close Syrian ally and opposition leader, called a new session for October 23.

POLITICAL THAW?

In a sign of a thaw in a 10-month-old political crisis, Berri held two rounds of talks with March 14 leader Saad al-Hariri in parliament. They had not met for months.

"Foundations have now been laid for a dialogue that starts today," MP Ali Hassan Khalil, Berri's top political aide, told Reuters, adding that this was a step towards consensus.

Hariri said he would stay in touch with Berri. "The climate is positive and conciliatory to reach the stage to elect a president for all Lebanese," he added. "I'm optimistic."

Failure to elect a president before Lahoud's term expires on November 23 could prompt the outgoing head of state to name an interim administration, setting the stage for two rival governments to compete for power and risking more instability.

Many Lebanese voiced frustration with their politicians.

"They'll sort it out. They're just playing around. Everyone is fed up. Each side wants to show it's stronger so they'll just keep delaying to the last minute," said 25-year-old engineer Afaf Daher in the Gemmayze entertainment area of Beirut.

The March 14 alliance led by Hariri fears more assassinations to reduce its slim parliamentary majority after last week's car bombing that killed Christian MP Antoine Ghanem.

Some opposition MPs went to parliament and mingled with their opponents but had no intention of attending an electoral session for lack of prior consensus on a new president.

Two pro-government MPs walked into parliament carrying a red banner with pictures of Ghanem and five other anti-Syrian MPs slain in the past two years, including former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. "Don't boycott the nation," the banner read.

Inside the chamber, a Lebanese flag and portraits of the assassinated deputies were placed on six empty seats.

The March 14 bloc had hoped to elect one of its own members in the first presidential election since Syrian troops were forced to leave Lebanon in 2005 after Hariri's assassination.

"We are now with consensus, but at the right moment, the March 14 coalition will elect a new president," Antoine Zahra, an MP from the Christian Lebanese Forces party, declared.

Syria's al-Baath newspaper said March 14's insistence on choosing the president meant that it was "pursuing its scheme for Lebanon to fall in the grip of U.S.-Israeli projects".

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry, Nadim Ladki and Yara Bayoumy)