In his annual Christmas message on Friday, influential Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, head of the Maronite Catholic community from which Lebanon’s presidents are drawn, urged all parties to unite and end Lebanon’s political vacuum. "We have to reject hatred… and stop seeking personal interests at the expense of national interests," he said.  "The presidency has been vacant for more than half a month, parliament has been paralysed for about a year and our government is limping with some cabinet members pursuing a strike," he said.

On Thursday, US President George W. Bush accused Damascus of seeking to destabilise Lebanon despite having withdrawn troops from its smaller neighbour in April 2005 after 29 years of military domination."It is very important that Lebanon’s democracy succeed. I worked with the French to get Syria out of Lebanon, and Syria needs to stay out of Lebanon. Syria needs to let the process in Lebanon work," Bush said. US President George W. Bush on Thursday ruled out direct talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, saying his "patience ran out" on the Syrian leader "a long time ago.""So if he’s listening, he doesn’t need a phone call, he knows exactly what my position is," Bush said at a year-end press conference, after being asked whether he would talk to Assad to work on ending Lebanon’s political crisis."My patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago, and the reason why is because he houses Hamas, he facilitates Hezbollah, suiciders go from his country into Iraq and he destabilizes Lebanon," said Bush. The president said he was particularly vexed by what he said were Syria’s continued alleged efforts to foment instability in Lebanon, despite having withdrawn troops from there in April 2005. He also has suggested for the Parliament to go ahead with the vote without the votes of the opposition, and informed them that the world will support them even if there is no 2/3 of the votes.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused Washington of blocking what he called Syrian and French efforts to end the Lebanese deadlock. "They want the majority to monopolise the political decision-making process, instead of, as we and the French believe, all the parties being treated equally," he said. They want the (parliamentary) majority to monopolise the political decision-making process, instead of, as we and the French believe, all the parties being treated equally."He said a proposed Damascus-Paris solution aimed to agree a declaration of three principles; election of the army chief, General Michel Sleiman, after amending the constitution; formation of a national unity government and a fair rewriting of the electoral law.

In reaction,  " Sarkozy said that he wishes that this date be respected and that a solution on the electoral process be found," presidential spokesman David Martinon told a news conference. "(Sarkozy told Assad) again that France was more than ever committed to the election of a Lebanese president, a president of a broad appeal," Martinon said.

the opposition in Lebanon, accused Bush of "using its tools" — the majority coalition — to thwart attempts to reach a compromise over the presidency. "No, Bush, your orders cannot be implemented in Lebanon and your tutelage is rejected," Hezbollah number two Naim Kassem said in a statement on Friday. Lebanon’s  leader Michel Aoun said Friday that a parliamentary session scheduled for Saturday with the purpose of electing a new president will not go ahead, as no agreement had been reached between rival political factions. "There will no session but we hope for something positive after the holidays," Aoun said during a press conference.

Lebanese Information Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Muallem’s remarks were "deceptive." "As usual, the Syrian minister is fooled by his own deceptiveness, believing that it is still the era when Syria formed Lebanese governments," Hamadeh said in Beirut.Majority MPs Nayla Moawad and Elias Atallah told AFP on Friday that their camp was not seeking to impose a president, preferring to pursue efforts for a compromise accord with the opposition.But Moawad warned that "after the recent remarks by Muallem and Syrian Deputy President Faruq Shara, it is clear that the Syrian regime has taken the decision to block the presidential vote. "They want to create a crisis to prevent Lebanon from having a strong and independent state. They want to cause chaos to be able to use Lebanon as a negotiating card for their own interests," she said.

As Christmas approaches, Lebanese church leaders believe Christians are facing great challenges. They say religious divisions between Christian, Shia and Sunnis are becoming more entrenched and many Christians have begun leaving Beirut.

Father Antoine Khadra, president of the Association of Christian Lebanese Journalists and head of the Convent of Saint Nohra, said he hopes that Christmas brings stability to the country.

"The Lebanese are not doing well, " he said in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). "To live in peace you need stability. For us, as the church, it is not easy to enourage people to celebrate.

"Spirituality is important, but we also need stability to live."

He said many schools and communities had cancelled their festivities and the economic situation was also difficult since everything had become very expensive.

Missionary Dany al-Hayek from the Salesian Don Bosco House in El Hossun, in the country’s north, said "we don’t feel much about Christmas this year".

Christian leaders say last week’s fatal attack on General Francois al-Hajj, a Maronite Christian, not only shocked the country but was a serious setback to attempts to elect a new president after Emile Lahoud stood down on 23 November.

The country has been undergoing its worst political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war.

Monsignor Hanna Alwan, rector from the Maronite College of Rome, told AKI that the Lebanese were looking for peace because concern about the presidential vote and a weak economy had created a malaise in the country.

"We don’t know what kind of future awaits Lebanon, like what will happen with the presidential elections," he told AKI. "There is neither peace nor serenity for the holidays."

Meanwhile many Christian and Muslim Lebanese are said to be fleeing the country, seeking work and stability abroad in the Persian Gulf, in the US and Europe.

"The Christian community is diminishing," said Hayek. "Christians have aspirations, they want to live well. They want to guarantee a better life for their children, while Muslims have a degree of tolerance for the greater difficulties."

In Iraq, Christian leaders are more positive about the future. The patriarchal vicar of the Chaldean Christian church in Iraq and the world, Shlemon Warduni, has called on Christians and Muslims to welcome the new year with open arms and hearts filled with love.

In an interview with AKI, Warduni said people won’t be taking part in popular festivities in churches and Christian communites as they did in the past, but in their homes with relatives and friends.

Meanwhile, the bishop of the Chaldean Christian church in Mosul, Bulos Faraj Rahou, said he was more optimistic than in the past, saying security in the city had recently improved with the deployment of more police.

"The country is heading towards a period of celebrations to coincide with Christmas, New Year and the Festival of the Sacrifice. As a result, the whole country is on holiday," he told AKI.

In Jordan, the secretary-general of the Latin diocese of Amman, Hanna Kaldani, stressed the need for religious dialogue between Muslims and Christians to improve human rights, dignity and freedom.

"Christians and Muslims can find common agreement on diverse issues," Kaldani told AKI.

A member of Jordan’s Islamic-Christian committee and consultant to the Pontifical council for interreligious dialogue in Rome, Kardani said the greatest threat was the "extremely negative" influence of extreme religious ideology.

In Syria, the patriarchal vicar of the Greek Orthodox Church, Ghattas Hazim, said peace and stability were missing from the Arab world.

He told Adnkronos International (AKI) he hoped the new year would bring peace and well-being in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and the Sudan, but above all in Palestine where there is a great need for it.