Arab League chief Amr Mussa is heading back to Beirut on Thursday to meet with key political figures in a fresh bid to find a solution Lebanon's protracted political crisis. "I will meet with figures from the opposition and the (parliamentary) majority with regards to the implementation of the Arab initiative to reach a compromise in the Lebanese political crisis," Mussa told AFP.Mussa has made several previous visits to the country, which has been mired in political deadlock and without a president since November when former president Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term.
"I hope that this election takes place at any moment. The important thing is that Lebanon does not stay without a head of state," Mussa added.
While the ruling coalition, backed by the West and most Arab states, and the Hezbollah-led opposition, supported by Syria and Iran, have agreed to the election of consensus candidate and army chief Michel Sleiman, the two sides disagree on the make-up of the new cabinet.
Lebanon's parliament speaker and opposition leader Nabih Berri has offered to host a dialogue to address the issues over the formation of a national unity government and a new electoral law for the 2009 legislative elections.
When asked about Berri's initiative, Mussa said, "We support dialogue and see it as part of the Arab initiative" to break the Lebanese deadlock."
Mussa will be speaking at the Arab Economic Forum in Beirut this weekend, but will stay in the country for three days to meet with key figures including Berri, Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun and the head of the parliamentary majority coalition, Saad Hariri.
The Lebanese crisis led several Arab leaders to boycott the Arab summit in Damascus last month over what they described as Syrian meddling in Lebanese politics.