Lebanon parliament tries to break deadlock over president

Beirut: Lebanon's sharply divided parliament is meeting on Tuesday to try again to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman as a consensus president after 17 previous unsuccessful attempts.

But lawmakers are unlikely to even vote because not enough of them are expected to attend the session to make up the necessary two-thirds quorum.

Eighty-five members need to be present in the 128-seat legislature for the voting to begin.

The US-backed government holds a slim majority over the Syrian-backed opposition. Both sides agree on Suleiman's selection but are deadlocked over power-sharing in a future Cabinet.