With just two weeks left before the president has to step down, Lebanon's parliament speaker on Saturday delayed presidential elections for the third time to give rival factions more time to find a compromise candidate.
The 128-seat Parliament, dominated by anti-Syrian legislators, was scheduled to meet Monday for another attempt to choose a successor to pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, who steps down Nov. 24. A session during September failed to reach quorum because of an opposition boycott, and an October attempt was postponed as negotiators struggled to find a compromise candidate.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, in a statement issued by the parliament's secretariat general, and cited by the AP, said he decided to delay the election until Nov. 21 "to give more time for consultations to reach agreement on a president." The decision followed a meeting Friday night between Berri and Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority in Lebanon.
