Lebanese presidential vote postponed until January 21

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Friday postponed a session to elect Lebanon's next president until January 21 - the 12th such delay since the sharply divided legislature first tried to select a new head of state. The announcement came after Berri met with Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, who has been holding talks with rival Lebanese factions since Wednesday on an Arab plan calling for the election of army commander, Gen. Michel Suleiman, as president, the formation of a national unity government and the adoption of a new electoral law. Though the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority and the Syrian-backed opposition, led by Hizbullah, have backed Suleiman, they remain deadlocked over an amendment to Lebanon's constitution that would allow the head of the military to become president. They also have not been able to agree on the future of the government, with the opposition demanding that it receive veto power over major issues.