The rival leaders plan to resume on Thursday in a bid to work out a formula that would avert a showdown in the streets.

Speaker Nabih Berri, who is hosting the national talks in Beirut, said the all-party conference would resume Thursday morning to allow participants to study "various proposals" aimed at ending the political stalemate.

"Everyone is keen to reach solutions that would be in the interest of Lebanon," Berri told reporters at parliament house, without elaborating on the proposals.

Hezbollah, which has two representatives in the 24-member government, is attempting to win greater national political power by inviting more of its allies into the cabinet to secure a "blocking minority."

The anti-Syrian parliamentary majority has rejected the demand for a unity government before it secures a pledge for the ouster of Damascus protégé President Emile Lahoud.

The presidential election in the fall of 2007 and the creation of a special tribunal for the trial of suspects in the 2005 murder of anti-Syrian former premier Rafiq Hariri are at the heart of Lebanon's domestic disputes.

An Nahar described Wednesday's session as "stormy," saying the diverse demands by Hizbullah and its political ally, General Michel Aoun, from one side and the pro-government March 14 coalition on the other has indicated that the "bridge is gone."

Lebanon has witnessed a series of bombings in recent weeks, and last week Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah threatened to bring down the government of Prime Minister Fouad Saniora unless his group and its allies received a third of the seats in the cabinet.

Tuesday's talks were attended by all the major political leaders, except for Nasrallah, who sent the head of his parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, because he fears for his own security after Israeli threats to assassinate him.

Berri said that discussions were now focused on establishing a unity government, and there's no talk of ousting Saniora's government.

Nasrallah has given Saniora's government until Nov. 13 to grant his demand for an enlarged cabinet role. If his request is not met, the Hizbullah leader has said his party would call for peaceful mass demonstrations.

But pro-Saniora leader Samir Geagea has threatened to stage counter protests if Hizbullah's supporters take to the streets.

The talks follow a warning from French defense minister Michele Alliot-Marie Saturday of the risks of renewed violence on the Lebanon-Israel border after the Jewish state's summer war with Hezbollah.

The Israeli military is preparing for a possible new conflict if a UN-brokered truce that ended 34 days of war this summer does not hold, a top military commander in northern Israel said Monday.

Sources: Naharnet, Middle East Times, Ya Libnan