February date for Lebanese vote

Gen Suleiman is the preferred candidate of the Arab League

Lebanon's troubled presidential election has been postponed for the 13th time, as the country's political crisis continues.

MPs had been due to meet on Monday to elect the head of state, a post vacant since November, but the date has now been moved to 11 February.

Rival pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions failed to agree on the make-up of a new government.

The breakdown came despite Arab League mediation to break the deadlock.

Emile Lahoud's term as president ended on 23 November 2007 without a successor being named.

Parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri announced the postponement after meeting the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.

Mr Moussa has been trying to persuade Lebanon's factions to accept an Arab plan to elect army commander Gen Michel Suleiman as president while forming a national unity government and passing a new electoral law.

The deadlock over the president is Lebanon's worst political crisis since the country's long civil war ended in 1990.