BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Lebanese President Emile Lahoud urged the government and opposition leaders Thursday not to lose the current chances for solving the political standoff and re-launching "the genuine national partnership" in the country.

"The reported suggestions and initiatives can form a reasonable solution that and spare the country and the Middle East the problems of escalating tension," Lahoud's information office said in a statement.

"To break the current vicious circle necessitates bold decisions from the concerned parties who should give priority to the national interests rather than individual interests.

"Attempts to link between Lebanon's crisis and other regional ones will lead to further complication of the problems.

"If the problems of Lebanon are solved by the Lebanese themselves, no regional or international power will be able to interfere and foil the solution.

"The good offices of friendly countries should support any consensus to be reached by the Lebanese parties," the statement underlined.

Expecting a solution for the standoff in the coming days, the Lebanese president warned the Lebanese parties as well as external powers against foiling it.

"It is noticeable that whenever a progress towards consensus is made, certain parties with ulterior motives tend to abort the solution through carrying out bombings here and their," the statement pointed out.

Lahoud urged the Lebanese people to keep vigilant against such attempts, asserting that the Lebanese army was doing its utmost to preserve the country's security and stability. -Kuna