Aoun was quoted as saying in a late Thursday television interview that he will run for parliament in the mostly-Christian district of Jbeil-Kesrwan, north of Beirut, at the third round of legislative polls on June 12.

He did not wish to announce an electoral list and said he would forge alliances with "new, young faces".

Observers were speculating that Aoun will either run in Aley - Baabda region or Jbeil-Kesrwan, but all seemed to agree that his chances of success in Jbeil-Kesrwan were better. This however could create a split within the Christian alliances. This is perhaps why Aoun is not disclosing his electoral list at this stage and instead he declared that he will "forge allinaces with new and young faces".

Our sources indicated that Aoun has forged alliance with Dory Chamoun and Talal Arslan in Baabda -Aley and in the Chouf Districts of Mt. lebanon region. Neither of these could be counted as "new and young faces". Arslan for one is a pro Syrian ally and Chamoun is nominating his son Camille (named after his grandfather ex President Camille Chamoun) to run in the Chouf District.

Aoun, a Christian Maronite, said he had failed to reach agreements on joint lists for the elections with his main opposition rivals, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Saad Hariri, son of slain former PM Rafik Hariri, a Sunni.

His declaration was the latest sign that the formidable opposition between Christians and Muslims that, backed by international pressure, forced Syria to end its 29-year military presence in Lebanon last month, was far from being united.

Aoun previously said that Hariri and Jumblatt opposed his plan to name several of his own hand-picked candidates on their joint list.

The retired general, who was forced into exile by the Syrians in 1990 at the end of Lebanon's civil war, pledged on his return home on May 7 to work to overturn sectarian politics as part of reforms for the multi-confessional country.

The first round of elections will be held in Beirut next Sunday and continue on three consecutive Sundays elsewhere in the country to choose the 128-seat parliament.

Sources: Ya Libnan, , yahoo