Despite succeeding in gathering representatives of feuding Lebanese factions around the same table earlier on Sunday, Kouchner said his trip was "just a step, and don't expect me to resolve Lebanon's problems."

Before leaving Kouchner met at Beirut airport with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos who arrived on a similar diplomatic mission.

Moratinos, who was due to meet Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora later Sunday, told reporters after meeting Kouchner that he was "happy... to pursue the efforts exerted by France to resolve the crisis."

Kouchner then left for Cairo to brief the foreign ministers of Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the Arab League secretary general on his Beirut mission.

The French foreign minister, on his second trip to Lebanon this year, said he would return next month and was considering hosting a second conference similar to the July 14-15 meeting which gathered all Lebanese parties near Paris.

On Sunday, Kouchner lunched at the French ambassador's residence in Beirut with leaders and representatives of the Western-backed ruling majority and the Hezbollah-led opposition backed by regional allies Syria and Iran.

After meeting rival officials on Saturday, Kouchner warned of the danger of violence if the eight-month standoff between Lebanon's political parties is not solved through negotiations.

"If the Lebanese do not resume this necessary dialogue, unfortunately there will be more war. There are clans, struggles, sorts of poker games over power... but this is a deadly game in Lebanon," he said.

"I know that deep down, everyone in Lebanon wants reconciliation... maybe not the politicians, maybe not those who seize power and want to keep it... but civil society has had enough of war," he said.

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.

The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, bolstered by a proclaimed victory during last year's 34-day war with israel, 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.

Failure by the parties to resolve their differences in the coming weeks could spark a dangerous power vacuum or even the creation of two rival governments, plunging Lebanon 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.

While the talks in France did not yield much in the way of results, Kouchner stressed on Saturday that the process was ongoing.

"This is not a moment of despair, nor is it a moment of joy. We will continue, I am available, France is available."

But he also said that any solution had to come from within the country itself.

"We won't find a solution from outside... there are countries that weigh more than others on Lebanese decisions, but the only way to get away from these exterior positions and pressures is to have unity and reconciliation among the Lebanese," Kouchner said.