U.N. chief warns Lebanon faces "brink of abyss"

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By Tom Perry

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday warned that Lebanon risked nearing "the brink of the abyss" unless its political crisis was solved and said it was vital a presidential election go ahead on time next week.

Parliament is due to convene on November 21 to elect a successor to President Emile Lahoud, a close ally of Syria whose term ends on November 23.

But the vote will fail without a deal between rival leaders on the new president. Many fear that no agreement could result in two rival governments and trigger political violence in a country still recovering from its 1975-1990 civil war.

Ban said he had told rival leaders during a visit to Beirut it was "imperative that parliament must be convened to elect a new president", urging them to find a solution that has "the broadest possible support".

"The world is looking at Lebanon. This is a critical time for the future of this great country. If responsibilities are not shouldered, it might be moved to the brink of the abyss," Ban told reporters at the end of his visit.

The power struggle between the Western-backed governing coalition and its opponents, led by pro-Syrian Hezbollah, has paralysed government for a year. Agreement on Lahoud’s successor and the cabinet to be formed by the new president is seen as crucial .....continued below

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The presidential election has already been postponed three times to give rivals more time to agree. The new head of state will be the first to be elected since Syria withdrew troops from Lebanon in 2005.

PRESIDENTIAL LIST

France, which backs the ruling coalition, is leading efforts to push for a deal. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner had this week asked Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir to draft a list of nominees from which the rival camps can choose a president.

The head of state has to be a Maronite according to Lebanon’s sectarian power-sharing system.

Political sources said on Friday that Sfeir had submitted the list to Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader, and majority leader Saad al-Hariri.

The list includes the two declared candidates of the governing coalition -- MP Boutros Harb and former MP Nassib Lahoud, as well as the opposition’s declared candidate, former army General Michel Aoun.

Those three figures have little chance of becoming president since the opposing camps do not regard them as compromise candidates.

The list also includes three other names, the sources said, one of whom is MP Robert Ghanem, whose name has frequently been floated as a possible candidate.

Agreement between the opposition and the parliamentary majority is needed to secure a two-thirds quorum. Some members of the ruling coalition have said they have the right to elect a president using their slim majority if there is no deal.

Druze leader Walid Jumblatt has been one of the most vocal proponents of the governing coalition’s right to elect a president that way -- a move which Hezbollah says would be tantamount to a coup.

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