CAIRO: Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit travels to Beirut today to meet with Lebanese political leaders as part of a concerted Egyptian effort to reach some headway in the crisis surrounding the upcoming presidential elections. Aboul Gheit's visit "aims at asserting Egypt s great concern about the events on the Lebanese arena, and offering political support to the process of electing the new president within the framework of the constitutional schedules, with full keenness on Lebanon s independence and sovereignty, foreign ministry spokesman Hussam Zaki said in a statement. Lebanon has been engulfed in crisis over attempting to pick a successor for pro-Syrian Maronite President Emile Lahoud. Parliament recently decided to delay the election a second time by three weeks to Nov. 12. A Lebanese parliament statement announced at the time that "Parliament Speaker (Nabih Berri) has decided to postpone the session to Monday Nov. 12 for more consultation and agreement over the president, who symbolises the country s unity. The reason for the postponement is to give more time for Lebanon's notoriously sectarian political elite to reach an agreement on a successor who will appease all sides. The fear is that if a successor is not picked by the time Lahoud's term expires on Nov. 23, then two governments might be formed and fighting may break out. Aboul Gheit's visit in this context is to present an Egyptian perspective "to help the Lebanese factions - as the main parties responsible - reach resolutions for the current crisis, Zaki's statement continued. Additionally, Zaki "expressed Egypt s readiness to offer support to the factions, whether the Egyptian proposals are implemented or not, as the main aim is to sustain Lebanon's stability and avoid the possibilities and the consequences of a political vacuum or confrontation. As part of the 1989 Taif accord, which ended the civil war and created Lebanon's unique confessional form of politics, the president is a Maronite Christian and is elected by parliament MPs, rather than a popular vote. A candidate must have two-thirds of the parliament's support to succeed. The Lebanese civil war, which tore the country apart for almost two decades, began when two rival administrations were formed and fought for dominance.
