France decries Lebanon 'blockage'

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France's foreign minister has blamed unnamed groups for preventing a compromise candidate being chosen as the next president of Lebanon.

Bernard Kouchner said those derailing the process would be responsible for destabilising Lebanon and the region.

The Lebanese parliament is due to vote on Wednesday to elect a new president to replace pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud.

The vote has already been postponed three times, raising fears of dangerous new political instability.

"The one responsible for blocking a process that was agreed upon by all parties bears responsibility for destabilising Lebanon and for regional consequences," Mr Kouchner said after meeting the Western-backed, anti-Syrian parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.

Last week, the parliament majority and the pro-Syrian opposition agreed to work from a list of names submitted by the head of the Maronite Christian church - the religious minority from which Lebanon's president is traditionally chosen.

"I am surprised, France is surprised, that something is stuck, something is blocked, something is derailed," an angry Mr Kouchner said.

"Everyone had given their agreement."

If Wednesday's vote is postponed, analysts warn of the possibility of civil unrest and the establishment of competing governments.

However, they also hold out the real possibility of an 11th-hour deal being struck.

The political crisis over who will succeed Mr Lahoud is Lebanon's worst since the 1975-1990 civil war.