The Christian former army commander met with politicians from all sectarian communities, seeking alliances. He met Monday with a delegation from the militant Hezbollah group led by legislator Ali Ammar, who hinted afterward at the possibility of a coalition.

“We were and are still extending our hands to cooperate with all sectors of the society,” Ammar told reporters after a closed meeting with Aoun at his residence in Rabieh, north of Beirut.

“Gen. Aoun wants to enter politics through the language of programs and planning. We agree with him on this and we call on all forces to adopt this language,” Ammar said.

Aoun and Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah will meet soon, he said without giving a date.

Hezbollah is backed by Syria and Iran but has strong nationalist credentials after years of fighting the Israelis, as well as large support among Lebanon’s Shiite majority. It is now seeking a stronger role in Lebanese politics.

Aoun, who returned to Lebanon Saturday amid scenes of jubilation from thousands of his supporters, said he was waiting for opposition politicians’ response to his call to build a democratic Lebanon. He promised he would help reform Lebanon’s sectarian-based political system.

Aoun, a one-time army commander and interim Lebanese prime minister, lost a “war of liberation” against Syrian forces in 1989-90. He was sent into exile in France, but an arrest warrant against him was dropped earlier in the week, clearing the way for his return.

His return followed the April 26 completion of the Syrian troop withdrawal from Lebanon. Syria withdrew its forces after a nearly three-decade presence under relentless international pressure that intensified after Hariri’s assassination.

Saad Hariri, who assumed the political mantle left by his slain father, said he will cooperate all opposition leaders in parliamentary elections, specifically naming Aoun, Druse leader Walid Jumblatt and members of the Christian opposition group, Qornet Shehwan.

“We are working with the opposition which has come came under several attacks. But we and the opposition are one body,” Hariri told reporters after meeting with Grand Mufti Mohammed Rashid Kabbani, the spiritual leader of Lebanon’s Sunni Muslim sect. Saad, Hariri’s second eldest son, who will run in the elections, said he will meet with Aoun soon.

Hariri was killed with 20 others in a massive bombing in Beirut that targeted his motorcade on Feb. 14. The Lebanese opposition blamed the Beirut government and its Syrian backers for involvement in the assassination, charges both governments deny. The United Nations will send an international investigation team to probe the assassination.

The United Nations will also send international observers to monitor the elections.

A two-person UN electoral team headed by Carina Perelli, director of the Electoral Assistance Division, discussed upcoming elections with acting Foreign Minister Elias Murr in Beirut Monday.

Perelli told reporters that Lebanese authorities “welcomed” the team to “to help in the coordination of the international observers” to ensure free and fair elections.