Exiled Lebanese Christian former general Michel Aoun said he would return to Lebanon soon and might run in the country's parliamentary elections, local media reported on Sunday.

Aoun, who fiercely opposes Syria's dominance of Lebanon, was forced into exile a year after Syrian forces crushed his rebellion and ended the Lebanese civil war in 1990.

"I am returning to Lebanon before the parliamentary elections," Aoun told Lebanese reporters in Paris on Saturday, after talks with visiting Christian Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir.

Lebanon will hold general elections by May.

Asked if he planned to run in the poll, the former general said: "After my return ... everything is logical and possible. I might run and I might not."

Aoun still enjoys substantial support in Lebanon despite his 14 years in exile. He refused to say if his planned return was a result of contacts with the Syrian or Lebanese governments.

An-Nahar newspaper said Aoun had had direct contacts with Lebanese officials and would return after the Lebanese authorities drop lawsuits against him, the latest brought in 2003 over remarks he made backing U.S. sanctions on Syria.

Aoun is a staunch supporter of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559 which calls on foreign troops -- namely those from Syria -- to quit Lebanon.

His return would boost efforts by opposition groups, who are trying to present a joint front for the elections, to try to win a majority in the 128-member assembly, which is currently dominated by pro-Syrian MPs. (with Reuters)