by Jocelyne Zablit

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BEIRUT, Nov 23, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanon's political crisis deepened as the clocked ticked down to a midnight Friday deadline for lawmakers to elect a new president, with no breakthrough in sight despite intense diplomatic pressure.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri was expected to announce the postponement of a last-ditch parliament session to elect a successor to incumbent president Emile Lahoud.

Majority MP Solange Gemayel said on Thursday night the session had been postponed, but later another lawmaker from the anti-Syrian ruling coalition made a last-minute appeal to lawmakers to turn up for the crucial vote.

The Forces of March 14 ruling coalition "invites all lawmakers to take part in the session to elect a new head of state," MP Elie Aoun said at a press conference aired on television.

However, a lawmaker from the pro-Syrian Hezbollah opposition warned against the gathering.

"Any steps outside the consensus are doomed to failure," MP Nawaf al-Moussaoui, responsible for Hezbollah's foreign contacts, told AFP.

The news came as the foreign ministers of France, Italy and Spain expressed doubts over Friday's planned vote as they shuttled between the divided parties trying to assist in negotiations before the midnight deadline.

"Tomorrow, I don't believe there will be an election and this will create difficult conditions," said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema. "But this is not the end of the world."

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner added, "A miracle is still possible tomorrow but I think it is going to be a little complicated."

If no candidate is agreed by parliament to replace Lahoud, presidential powers pass to the government, in line with Article 62 of the Lebanese constitution.

Opposition leader Michel Aoun offered an 11th-hour solution to the impasse on Thursday suggesting that his camp name an interim president and the ruling majority appoint a prime minister.

Under the plan, Aoun would name a presidential candidate from outside his parliamentary bloc while parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri would nominate a prime minister from outside his Future Movement.

This president would serve until after the 2009 legislative elections and the temporary prime minister would form a national "reconciliation government."

Aoun said his proposal was valid only until 11:00 pm (2100 GMT) Friday.

The ruling coalition, which has 68 deputies in the 127-member parliament, had previously vowed to proceed with a simple majority vote but there were fears that option could spark unrest, according to political officials.

The opposition, backed by Syria and Iran, for its part has threatened to set up a parallel government, a grim reminder of the end of the 1975-1990 civil war when two administrations battled it out.

Four previous parliament sessions over the past two months to elect a president have already been postponed despite a host of foreign diplomats and politicians scrambling to Beirut to mediate between the sides.

The crisis, the worst since the end of the civil war, is widely seen as an extension of the regional confrontation pitting the United States against Iran and Syria.

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