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| Lebanese MPs delay crucial vote | Lebanese MPs delay crucial vote |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Lebanon's parliament has adjourned a crucial session to elect a new president until 23 October. | Lebanon's parliament has adjourned a crucial session to elect a new president until 23 October. |
| Speaker Nabih Berri said there were not enough MPs to make the two-thirds quorum, after members of the opposition pro-Syrian bloc stayed away. | |
| The opposition wants to prevent the Western-backed majority from electing an anti-Syrian head of state. | |
| Pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud is due to step down in two months, bringing three years of political crisis to a head. | Pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud is due to step down in two months, bringing three years of political crisis to a head. |
| Parliament has until late November to choose a successor who, by political consensus, must be a Maronite Christian. | |
| LEADING CANDIDATES Nassib Lahoud: Pro-government candidate. Former US ambassador. Leading industrialistMichel Aoun: Pro-Syrian candidate. Former army commander who fought Syria during civil war. Returned from exile in 2005. Vocal opponent of governmentMichel Suleiman: Army commander since 1998. Electing him requires constitutional amendmentRiad Salameh: Central bank governor since 1993. Widely respected at home and abroad. Election requires constitutional amendmentBoutrous Harb: Pro-government candidate. MP and former ministerJean Obeid: Possible consensus candidate. Foreign minister 2003-2004 | |
| Lebanon has been locked in political crisis since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005. | |
| The anti-Syrian March 14 coalition under Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has a dwindling majority of 68 in the 128-seat parliament after the murders of five of its MPs. | |
| This is not enough for the two-thirds majority required in the first round of voting. | |
| The pro-Syrian coalition is led by the Islamic movement Hezbollah with support from the Christian leader Michel Aoun. | |
| Tanks and troops have been deployed around parliament and anti-Syrian MPs were escorted to the building under tight security. |