Assad meets French envoys on Lebanon

Syria's president told French envoys Sunday that the Lebanese should find a compromise candidate for president and hold elections without foreign interference.

In the highest-level visit by French officials to Syria in more than two years, Syria's Bashar Assad met with Claude Gueant, President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief of staff, and Jean-David Levitte, his chief international adviser, the Syrian Arab News Agency said.

Assad and the envoys agreed the Lebanese should elect their next president freely and without any foreign inference, SANA reported.

The meeting came a day after the U.S. and Syria sparred over Lebanon, warning each other not to interfere in the upcoming election. The U.S. accuses Syria and Iran of interfering in Lebanese affairs and backing attempts to topple the Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.

Lebanon is mired in its worst political crisis since the end of the 1975-90 civil war. Despite marathon discussions between pro-government and opposition leaders in the parliament, the two groups have made no headway in electing a new president to prevent a power vacuum or the formation of two rival administrations.

With time running out, the election has become a showdown between Iran and Syria, who back the opposition, and the United States and its European allies, who support the parliamentary majority and Saniora's government.

Parliament was to make another attempt to elect a president on Nov. 12. But as with the two previous attempts in September and October, the government and the opposition have been unable to reach a compromise in advance.

Failure to pick a leader to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term expires Nov. 24, could worsen the political crisis.

On Saturday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a rare meeting with her Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq in Istanbul, Turkey. She repeated U.S. demands that Syria steer clear of Lebanon's internal politics.

Syria dominated its smaller neighbor for nearly 30 years before it was forced by international pressure to withdraw its tens of thousands of troops from Lebanon in 2005.

In Paris, a statement from Sarkozy's spokesman said the meeting with Assad was part of France's efforts for several months to encourage the search for a solution to Lebanon's crisis.

French and Syrian relations have been cold since the Feb. 14, 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which many have blamed on Syria — a claim that Damascus denies.