BEIRUT, Lebanon - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for dialogue to end Lebanon's political crisis and the prompt creation of a court to try suspects in former premier Rafiq Hariri's murder, blamed on powerful neighbour Syria.

The secretary general urged leaders on both sides of Lebanon's political divide to pursue "dialogue" in order to reach "national reconciliation" and end the country's most damaging crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Ban's talks in Beirut covered the crisis in Lebanon and plans for the creation of the international court over the Hariri murder and the status of the UN probe into the February 2005 killing.

After talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an influential leader of the Syrian-backed opposition, he said: "I emphasised our commitment to the establishment of the tribunal of Lebanon as soon as possible.

"We call for Lebanese national consensus about this tribunal."

The Western-backed pro-government camp accuses the opposition of acting under Syrian pressure to paralyse political institutions in Lebanon and block the creation of the international court for the murder widely blamed on Damascus.

Hariri's killing triggered domestic and international protests which forced Syria to end 29 years of military domination of its neighbour in April 2005. Damascus denies any involvement in Hariri's death.

Later Friday, Ban met with Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri -- son of the murdered former premier -- and other prominent politicians.

He was also due to hold talks the same day with pro-Syrian Hezbollah official Mohammed Fneish, who was among six pro-Damascus ministers who quit the cabinet in November.

"We'll resort to every possible means to achieve the setting up of the tribunal, otherwise we'll look at other ways," Siniora said at a joint press conference with Ban.

He was apparently refering to the establishment of the court through a new Security Council resolution under Chapter Seven of the UN charter which stipulates the use of force to implement resolutions.

"But in the meantime we have to explore every possible way," he said.

Asked if Syria would comply to any new resolution under Chapter Seven, Ban said: "When it comes to the UN Security Council resolutions, all states have an obligation to comply with the resolutions."

On Saturday, he is expected to travel to southern Lebanon to visit the UN peacekeeping force monitoring a ceasefire that ended last year's war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Since the 34-day conflict, the UN force has been beefed up to 12,997 peacekeeping soldiers from 30 countries -- including 11,302 ground troops and 1,695 naval personnel -- according to a statement on Thursday.

Asked about continued Israeli flights over Lebanon, Ban said: "violations of Lebanese sovereignty must stop."

He also said that "we need to have some progress on the unresolved prisoners' issue" between Lebanon and Israel.

In an address to the Arab summit in Riyadh on Wednesday, Ban said "the situation in Lebanon must be another of our priorities" and that he regretted "Lebanon continues to go through internal political turmoil."

Ban also told Arab leaders that Siniora had "displayed impressive leadership under difficult circumstances, and I urge you to support his democratically elected government."

His remark triggered a grimace from Siniora's rival, the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud.

Lahoud and the Damascus-backed opposition consider Siniora's Western-backed government "illegitimate" after all five Shiite Muslim ministers resigned last November.

The country has since been paralysed as the opposition insists on an enlarged unity cabinet in which it would wield a veto -- a demand rejected by the ruling majority.

Ban was not scheduled to meet with Lahoud, whom he met at the Arab summit. Lahoud has been boycotted by most Western officials since the Hariri murder. -AFP