Nassib Lahoud

Mr. Lahoud, 62, is one of the two candidates endorsed by the March 14 movement. He served as Lebanon’s ambassador to the United States in 1990. Mr. Lahoud, a cousin of President Émile Lahoud, was appointed a member of Parliament in 1991 during the transition after the 1989 Taif agreement, which ended Lebanon’s civil war. He was elected to a seat in 1992 and served until 2005, when he lost an election for a fourth term. Mr. Lahoud owns one of the largest engineering companies in the Middle East and established the Democratic Renewal Party in 2000. Mr. Lahoud is also the son of, Salim Lahoud, a former lawmaker and government minister.

Boutros Harb

Though Mr. Harb, 63-year-old lawyer, is the other contender with March 14 movement’s backing, he is promoting himself as a compromise candidate between the movement and Hezbollah. He has been a member of Parliament since 1972 and has served as minister of education and minister of public works and transportation in several governments since 1979. He was a member of the committee that wrote the final version of the Taif agreement, which ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. Mr. Harb ran for president in 1998, when the Constitution was amended to allow President Émile Lahoud, who was army commander at the time, to run, and in 2004, when the constitution was amended again to extend Mr. Lahoud’s term.

Michel Aoun

A retired general and former army commander, Mr. Aoun, 72, is the candidate of the opposition, led by Hezbollah. General Aoun served as a prime minister from 1988 to 1990 in one of the two rival governments until the Syrian troops forced him into exile, effectively ending Lebanon’s civil war. He returned from France in May 2005 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and a few days after Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon under domestic and international pressure. General Aoun, one of the first Lebanese figures to openly oppose the Syrian troops’ presence in Lebanon, surprised many in February 2006 when he signed a political deal with Hezbollah. Together they launched a campaign to topple the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora — which they accuse of corruption and treason — by convening a sit-in in the heart of the capital.

Michel Suleiman

General Suleiman, 59, was appointed army commander in 1998 and became the first military leader in more than 40 years to deploy Lebanese troops to Hezbollah’s strongholds in southern Lebanon. During his term Israeli troops left South Lebanon in 2000 and briefly invaded it again in 2006 during the war with Hezbollah. He won nationwide popularity last summer when his troops defeated Islamic radicals holed up in a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon after 15 weeks of fierce fighting. General Suleiman has managed to keep the army neutral and united during Lebanon’s political crisis, which has at times sparked street violence, and he is considered a viable compromise candidate in many quarters. General Suleiman has had friendly relations with Syria as well as with the governing coalition in Lebanon and the Hezbollah-led opposition. However. the Constitution would have to be amended to allow an active-duty general to be elected president.

Joseph Tarabay

Mr. Tarabay heads the board of the Union of Arab Banks and the Association of Lebanese Banks. He was elected this year as the president of the Christian Maronite League, a movement set up to assist and maintain contacts with the Maronite Christian community worldwide. He served as income tax chief at the Ministry of Finance in the 1990s. Mr. Tarabay is seen as a candidate equally independent from the opposition and the ruling coalition, but his ability to run the country remains in question because of his lack of political experience.

Robert Ghanem

Mr. Ghanem, 65, is a lawyer and son of a former army commander. He has served in Parliament since 1992 for four consecutive terms and was also minister of education and minister of youth and sports in the 1990s. He allied himself with the March 14 movement after the assassination of Mr. Hariri but in recent months has distanced himself from the government. He has also tried to renew ties to Syrian leaders in an effort to improve his chances as a compromise candidate.

Chakib Kortbawi

Mr. Kortbawi, 62, is former head of the Beirut Bar Association. He lost his parliamentary race in 2005, when he ran in an alliance with General Aoun. Despite his alliance with General Aoun in the 2005 election, he is respected by politicians from both major factions. He won a reputation for independence and non-sectarianism as head of the Bar Association, where he fought corruption. He is considered one of the more viable compromise candidates.

Damianos Kattar

Mr. Kattar, 47, served as finance minister in the interim government of former Prime Minister Najib Mikati in 2005. During his two-month term he was known as a frank and hard-working leader who tried to introduce tough measures to improve the economy. He is popular among Lebanese across the political spectrum. Mr. Kattar has a doctorate in strategic planning a French university in Beirut and lectures in several universities in Beirut. He is also a consultant for a finance group in the Persian Gulf region.