Siniora's remarks came at the end of a two-day visit to Cairo where he met Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmad Abul Geith and Arab League chief Amr Moussa ( pictured with Siniora) in an effort to settle the Lebanon crisis and patch up Beirut-Damascus differences.

"We have always said that there are no settlements (to the Lebanon crisis) without dialogue," Siniora said at a joint press conference with Moussa.

"But who stopped the dialogue?" Siniora asked.

"The person who should conduct a dialogue should be the President of the Republic," Siniora stressed.

Siniora earlier was quoted as saying that contacts were underway between Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria to settle the political crisis in Beirut and tackle the deteriorating Lebanese-Syrian relations.

"Lebanon has one neighbor, that is Syria, and one enemy, that is Israel," Siniora said.

"The Arab umbrella shadows Lebanon," he added without further elaboration on the remark.

Following his mission in Egypt, which included talks with President Hosni Mubarak, Siniora is to leave for the United Arab Emirates.

The majority premier is scouting possibilities of requesting a meeting by Arab foreign ministers to tackle the strained Lebanese-Syrian relations.

Berri in Syria

Syria is willing to help Lebanon's rival factions reach a national accord to end the ever-deepening Lebanese political crisis, the pro-Syrian Lebanese parliament speaker said Monday in Damascus

Nabih Berri, aligned with the Syrian-backed opposition against Lebanon's parliament majority government, spoke after a two-hour meeting in Damascus with Syrian President Bashar Assad. It was the first such meeting in nearly two years between Syrian president and a high-ranking Lebanese official.

Tensions between the two neighbors have increased, and Lebanon last week boycotted the Arab summit in Damascus. Lebanon's Syrian-backed opposition is locked in a power struggle with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government and the sharply divided Lebanese parliament has failed to elect a president since last September.

«I tell our people in Lebanon, the Arabs and the world, that brothers in Syria have no conditions at all on an inter-Lebanese accord,» Berri told reporters. «On the contrary, they are ready for any help they might be asked for.

Berri's remarks sharply contrasted accusations by the United States and Lebanon's anti-Syrian factions that Syria was responsible for deepening the Lebanese crisis by blocking the election of a new president. Damascus has denied the charge, while its Lebanese allies have blamed Washington for scuttling attempts to reach a solution.

Although they have decided in principle on Army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as a consensus president, Lebanese lawmakers failed to elect him because rival sides can't agree on the shape of the future government.

Syria's official news agency SANA said Assad affirmed to Berri his support for dialogue and national accord between feuding Lebanese factions.

Berri said his talks with Assad had given him «new momentum» to go ahead with his plans to revive dialogue among the country's rival factions, to elect Suleiman, form a national unity government and adopt a new electoral law.

Syria-Lebanese relations soured following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Lebanese anti-Syrian factions have blamed Syria for Hariri's death in a massive truck bombing in Beirut. Syria has denied involvement.

Berri will also Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a bid to promote a solution to the Lebanese crisis, Lebanese newspapers said Monday.

Sources: Naharnet, AP, Ya Libnan