Lebanese political heavyweights held talks Wednesday as parliament prepares to elect a president, with foreign powers pressuring for consensus a day ahead of the vote.

The tiny Mediterranean country, already deep in economic and political crisis, has been without a president for more than two years amid bitter divisions between Shiite Muslim group Hezbollah and its opponents.

With Hezbollah weakened by war with Israel, Lebanon's politicians have come under renewed external pressure to pick a head of state.

Army chief Joseph Aoun, 60, is widely seen as the frontrunner, with backers of his candidacy saying he might be the man to oversee the rapid deployment of the military in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of a November 27 ceasefire that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war, the armed movement is to pull its fighters away from areas near the border, leaving only the national army to deploy there alongside UN peacekeepers.

Hezbollah has backed former minister Sleiman Frangieh, but on Wednesday he withdrew his candidacy and threw his support behind Aoun, saying the army chief had the right "qualifications".

In a country........

© Al Monitor