Lebanon's presidential election due to be held on Monday has been postponed for nine days. Political sources said the delay was to allow rival Lebanese leaders more time to agree on a compromise candidate.
The parliamentary session to elect a president had already been postponed twice. The term of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud expires on November 23rd.
Electing a president is regarded as vital to resolving a year-old crisis in which the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora is at loggerheads with the pro-Syrian Hezbollah opposition.
The impasse has pushed Lebanon into its worst political crisis since the 1975-90 civil war and many Lebanese fear a failure to reach a deal could lead to two rival governments and bloodshed.
A French envoy had arrived in Beirut yesterday in a last-ditch effort to help resolve the standoff.