Lebanon in constitutional crisis

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Lebanon's deadlocked political leaders reportedly plan to wait a week before naming a successor to the outgoing president in the increasingly shaky government.

"No political party in Lebanon has interests in having an explosive, chaotic situation," said Okab Sakr, a Beirut-based political analyst and commentator.

Lebanon faced a constitutional crisis after Pro-Syrian President Emil Lahoud's term expired Friday without the naming of a successor. Hours before leaving office, Lahoud declared a state of emergency and handed power to the military, an order deemed unconstitutional by pro-Western leaders in Lebanon, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The pro-Western government and the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition have laid claims to power, but all sides said they have ruled out violence as a way to resolve differences, the Times reported.

The parliament is to meet again Nov. 30 to try to find a choice acceptable to the Western-backed majority and the opposition, the Times reported.