Lebanon President Vote Delayed Again

Source: Alalam.ir, 17-12-2007
BEIRUT, Lebanon--The deeply divided Lebanese parliament failed Monday again to elect a president and voting was postponed until Saturday.
A statement issued by parliament's secretariat general said that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri decided to postpone Monday's session until Dec 22.
Parliament must meet to approve Army Commander Gen. Michel Sleiman for the presidency after he won backing from both the parliament majority and the opposition.
It was the ninth postponement since parliament first tried to elect a new president in Sept.
The long-delayed election is seen as a crucial step toward ending a deep crisis that has paralyzed the country and left the presidency vacant since Nov 23, when incumbent Emile Lahoud stepped down with no elected successor.
Although rival parties have agreed in principle to elect Sleiman, they have been bickering on how to amend the constitution to allow a senior public servant to become president.
The crisis between the two camps worsened last week after a car bomb killed Brig. Gen. Francois al-Hajj, who had been tipped to become army chief once Sleiman is elected.
Hajj joined a list of politicians and journalists who have been killed or wounded in the last three years in attacks