BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 30 Lebanon’s parliament has postponed until Dec. 7 a session to select the country’s next president, the sixth time the election has been pushed back.In a statement issued by his office, Lebanese Speaker Nabih Berri said he took the action to permit further efforts to reach consensus on the election, The Lebanon […]

BEIRUT Lebanon’s opposition on Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of its sit-in in central Beirut, vowing to stay on for years if need be to force the resignation of the government. "The sit-in began because there is a government that we consider illegitimate, and as long as our goal has not been achieved we will stay there indefinitely," Hezbollah spokesman Hussein Rahal told AFP. The continued protest comes as the country grapples with a dangerous political vacuum that has left the presidency vacant because of a standoff between pro and anti government forces.

Groups of young men mill outside the tents at night, some smoking water pipes and others chit-chatting about politics, reading a newspaper or watching television. Several of the opposition interviewed by AFP said they work in shifts manning the tents — which they said number 600 — with some going to work during the day and returning to the camp at night. "When we started we thought the government would fall quickly but the days have gone by and now I think it will take a while," Emile Hashem 45 , who is responsible for the camp area manned by supporters of General  Michel Aoun. Most of the orange tents, adorned with pictures of Aoun, are empty during the day. Some have television sets and small piles of mattresses. A washing machine stands outside one tent.Hashem says only 100 supporters of Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement sleep in 50 of the 125 tents every night. Hezbollah occupies a nearby square filled with mostly empty tents guarded by members wearing caps marked maintain discipline.

"Still, we are ready to stay until Siniora leaves and if that takes 10 years so be it," he added. "We are here 24 hours a day and we are staying," chimed in a Hezbollah member who did not wish to give his name. Hashem and a Hezbollah official said a rally was planned Saturday to commemorate the year-long sit-in.

BEIRUT (AFP)–Lebanon entered a decisive week Monday during which parliament is due to elect a new president, with many warning that the country risks sliding into chaos if the political vacuum persists."We are now in an interim period which may lead us to stability, or to chaos and confrontation," Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, from whose Maronite community Lebanese presidents are drawn, said during his Sunday sermon.

President Emile Lahoud left office at the end of his term Friday after parliament failed to elect his successor amid continued deadlock between the government and the opposition.Although politicians have vowed to agree on a consensus candidate by the time lawmakers convene again for a vote on Friday, there has been no tangible progress.

"Everybody – especially those responsible for brokering an agreement – are asked to show seriousness and honest patriotism," the cardinal said.The government, considered illegitimate by the opposition since its six ministers quit last November, said Saturday that it was taking charge of running Lebanon in line with the constitution.

Lebanon is now "without an executive power," Hezbollah number two Naim Qassem said.Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s government "does not exist, cannot rule and cannot take over from the presidency," he said.The deadlock is widely seen as an extension of the confrontation between the two sides’ foreign sponsors – the U.S. and its key Arab ally Saudi Arabia for the government, and Iran and its key Arab ally Syria for the opposition.

Lebanon‘s President Emile Lahoud (C) poses with the army’s Chief of Staff Michel Sleiman (2nd L) and officers during Independence Day celebrations in Baabda, near Beirut, November 22, 2007. (Dalatinohra/Reuters) Please Click Read More fore more pictures

Lebanese MPs are facing a deadline of midnight to appoint a new president. However, mediators fear rival camps will fail to reach a deal, plunging the country into a deeper political crisis. Attempts to elect a new president over the past two months have been hampered by rivalry between  pro and anti-government supporters.

"A miracle is still possible tomorrow but I think it’ll be a bit complicated," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner. A vote in parliament has been scheduled for 1300 (1100 GMT) on Friday, 11 hours before the end of current pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud’s term.

No compromise The election of a president requires a two-thirds majority, which means that the anti-Syrian ruling bloc – with its slim majority – cannot force its preferred candidate through parliament. A deal with the opposition is therefore required. The rival factions cannot agree on a compromise candidate,.

BEIRUT (AFP) – Almost 20,000 runners hit the streets of Lebanon on Sunday for the fifth Beirut Marathon under tight security ahead of a planned presidential election later this week. Lebanese soldiers and security personnel patrolled the streets of the capital as the thousands of men, women and children from more than 65 Gulf countries, turned […]

By Tom Perry, BEIRUT (Reuters Life!) – Lebanon’s Caracalla Dance Theatre defied the odds to bring its fusion of modern and oriental dance to stages at home and abroad, building one of the Arab world’s great artistic success stories. But having survived Lebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war, Caracalla has been suffering its toughest spell in nearly four decades of dance, says company founder Abdel-Halim Caracalla.

Daily star, BEIRUT: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner described the results of his talks with Lebanese political leaders as "excellent" Tuesday, but he also warned that the situation  remains complicated. "France wants and hopes this [election] process to be held according to the Lebanese Constitution," Kouchner said before his scheduled departure from Lebanon late Tuesday night. He also warned that if a new president were not selected before the expiration of incumbent Emile Lahoud’s term on November 24, "no one knows what will happen."

Kouchner met twice with Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir, and two more times with parliamentary majority leader MP Saad Hariri. He announced from Ain al-Tineh, where he met Speaker Nabih Berri, that he would be returning to Lebanon next week before November 21, the latest date set by Berri for a session of Parliament to elect a new president. During a press conference at Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport later, he also said he was "optimistic" about contacts between the government and the opposition – and that he expected Berri would convene the November 21 session.