Kouchner met civil representatives before holding talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a member of the Shiite-led opposition, and then lunching with Western-backed Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

He was expected later in the day to meet with other political leaders, including members of Hezbollah.

The resignation last November of six pro-Syrian ministers, five of them Shiite, sparked the current political standoff, the country's worst since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war.

Hezbollah, the Shiite group backed by Syria and Iran, is pushing for the opposition to be better represented in government in order to give it veto power.

But the majority insists this can only happen if Hezbollah agrees to stop blocking parliamentary sessions in order to ensure the quorum needed for the presidential elections to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud by a November 25 deadline.

If the parties fail to resolve their differences in the coming weeks that could spark a dangerous power vacuum or even the creation of two rival governments that would plunge the country into further chaos.

France has taken the lead in trying to resolve the crisis, gathering all the parties for a conference near Paris earlier this month and sending a top envoy to the region for consultations with all the key players.

Kouchner on his arrival in Beirut late on Friday said a solution to the crisis lies "in the hands of the Lebanese."

"There is little time left for this dialogue to take place," he said. "My trip here is but a step forward and there will be others."

Kouchner is due in Egypt on Sunday to meet the foreign ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the Arab League secretary general to brief them on his Beirut visit. -AFP