They said Aoun suggested that Beirut's first constituency include eight Christian and Armenian seats from Ashrafiyyeh, Rmeil and Mdawwar, while Beirut's second and third constituencies are drawn so as to allow Muslims to be elected from Islamic parliamentary blocs (11 seats).

Hariri, according to reports from Doha, rejected Aoun's proposal, but expressed willingness to "build on" an offer made by Murr which he described as "balanced."

Hariri has reportedly said Murr's offer "does not frighten anybody. On the contrary, it is reassuring."

Murr's proposal called for dividing Beirut into three constituencies such as:

-The First (250,000 voters) includes Mazraa, Musayitbeh, Zoqak al-Blat, Ain Mreisseh, Mina al-Hosn, Ras Beirut and the port area such as the 10 seats are distributed as follows: 5 Sunnis, one Shiite, one Greek Orthodox, One Druze, one Anglican and one from the minority.

-The Second (110,000 voters) includes Bashoura, Mdawwar and Saifi. Seats to be distributed as follows: 3 Armenians, one Shiite and one Sunni.

-The Third (80,000 voters) includes Ashrafiyeh and Rmeil. Seats to be distributed as follows: One Greek Orthodox, one Maronite, one Shiite and one Sunni.

Murr uncovered that Speaker Nabih Berri and Hezbollah informed him that they approved his offer. He said he got their okay during a Monday meeting.

Murr said he was entrusted by Berri and Hezbollah to discuss details of the offer with Hariri.

"I heard his (Hariri's) remarks ... and we agreed to continue consultations in this regard," Murr said.

Press reports said Qatar's prime minister shuttled between the majority and the opposition late Monday with suggestions regarding the government seat ratio.

They said Qatar's emir Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa al-Thani also joined the talks along with eight Arab League ministers in an effort to come up with new suggestions before holding one-on-one talks with Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and MP Saad Hariri. Meanwhile, the Qatari prime minister met with Speaker Nabih Berri.

Photo: MP Saad Hariri ( L) with MP Michel Murr . Hariri accepted Murr's offer for electoral district distribution in Beirut but Rejects Aoun's offer , which he described as unbalanced

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