Oct. 1, 2007 (LPAC)--Lebanese Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Butros Sfeir expressed his cautious optimism that the crisis that has been wracking the country, may be solved peacefully. Sfeir, who has held talks with Vatican officials in Rome, and has met with various political faction leaders in Lebanon, said on September 30 that he hoped a compromise candidate for the presidency would be found. "We hope a deal can be reached over a president who can unite the Lebanese in spite of their religious, sectarian and political backgrounds," Sfeir said. This is important, he added, in order for the country "to reclaim its past glow and its dignity, without which it loses a great deal of respect among other countries," the Daily Star reported today. "I hope the Lebanese people realize how critical the situation facing their country is," he went on, "and unite in an effort to salvage the country and reclaim its position in the world."

The leading opposition group, Hezbollah, allied with the Christian forces of Michel Aoun, is demanding that agreement on a compromise candidate be found, otherwise it will boycott the parliament's meetings (as it did Sept. 25), and deprive it of the two-thirds quorum required by the Constitution to elect a President.

Berri is to convoke Parliament again on October 23 for another round of voting, following intensive talks among the political groups, led by March 14 group leader MP Saad Hariri and Berri himself.