Threat of Violence Rises in Lebanon after Lahoud

BEIRUT - Lebanon plunged Friday into a political vacuum after a sharply divided Parliament failed to elect a head of state and President Emile Lahoud headed out of office without a successor - pushing a yearlong crisis toward uncharted waters that many fear could bring violence.

In the last hours of a nine-year presidency Friday night, Lahoud was expected to hand over his security powers to the military chiefs to hold the country together and prevent a possible explosion of clashes while the still divided factions try to agree on a president.

The military has been on alert for several days, deploying Friday hundreds of troops in tanks, armored carriers and jeeps along intersections leading to the Lebanese capital and around the downtown area where the parliament building is located. The city was normal, but traffic was lighter than usual, and most schools were closed.

Both the feuding anti-Syrian government majority and the pro-Syrian opposition quickly moved to prevent the political deadlock from spilling into the streets. Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled another parliamentary session for next Friday to give more time for consultations and defuse tensions, and leaders from both sides pledged to continue to work toward reaching agreement on a consensus candidate.

"We have no choice but to have a consensus," said Saad Hariri, leader of the parliamentary majority that backs Prime Minister Fuad Saniora. "It is not in Lebanon's interest that the (presidential) palace is left empty." Much of what happens next in Lebanon - a battleground between the West and the Syria-Iran axis - may depend in part on Tuesday's US-sponsored Mideast peace conference.

Robert Ghanem, a presidential candidate from the anti-Syrian majority, called for quick agreement to replace Lahoud, saying there are risks facing Lebanon on the local, regional and international levels. "We should steer away of this minefield and must urgently reach consensus," he said.

The presidency is the latest front in the power struggle between the anti-Syrian coalition that holds a slim majority in Parliament and the opposition, led by Syria and Iran's ally Hezbollah. The anti-Syrians have tried to put one of their own in the presidency to replace Damascus-ally Lahoud, , but have been blocked by opposition boycotts of the legislature.

Lawmakers tried one last time to convene to vote on a president Friday, but failed to reach the necessary two-thirds quorum because of the opposition boycott.

The question now was what happens at "zero hour" when Lahoud's term ends at midnight. Each camp was waiting for the other to make the first move in the standoff and all eyes were set on what Lahoud would do before stepping down. In the absence of a president, Saniora's government takes executive power under the constitution. But Lahoud has vowed not to hand his authority over to Saniora's Western-backed administration, considering it unconstitutional after all five ministers of the Shiite Muslim community quit a year ago.

Saudigazette.com