Arab League Chief Amr Mussa appeared less pessimistic Thursday after meeting with Lebanon's political leaders on the second day of a visit aimed at gaining acceptance for an Arab solution to the country's political crisis, according to dpa. "The solution does not need a miracle," Mussa said following a round of meetings with political and religious leaders. "There is an agreement on the name of the president, but it is not normal that the conflict on ways to elect him continues." He, stressed that the continuing paralysis "does not serve anyone." Mussa arrived in Beirut on Wednesday and was planning to continue his meetings with Lebanese leaders to help reach an agreement before Saturday. Lebanese MPs are due to convene to elect a president on Saturday, but it was not clear if the vote would take place as the procedure has been postponed 11 times since September. Lebanon has been without a president since November 23, when Emile Lahoud ended his term with no successor in place amid a bitter power struggle between the Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, supported by Syria and Iran. The Arab initiative is based on a three-point plan that calls for the election of Army Chief General Michel Suleiman as president, the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power and the adoption of a new electoral law. The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which in the past has insisted on a third of the seats in a new government so as to have veto power over key decisions, has given the plan a cautious welcome. But the Western-backed ruling majority, has given it its full support since it was announced last Saturday in Cairo. "I don't think there will be an election Saturday, unless there is a miracle. It all depends on how much pressure the Arabs can exert on Syria," said Christian anti-Syrian MP Samir Franjiyeh.
