PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent his top aide to Syria for talks aimed at defusing the crisis over Lebanon's presidential election, Sarkozy's office said Tuesday.

France is intensifying efforts toward a solution to the political crisis in Lebanon, a former French protectorate. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner is currently in Beirut, where rival factions are struggling to reach a compromise over a presidential candidate before the incumbent's term expires Saturday.

A planned Wednesday parliament session to elect a president was postponed by two more days as intense mediation between rival factions struggled to reach a compromise candidate.

Sarkozy's chief of staff, Claude Gueant, was in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday, the president's office said in a statement. Sarkozy also spoke by telephone with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

"This development is aimed at encouraging all the countries of the region to play a positive role" in helping Lebanon choose a president, the statement said.

Gueant visited Damascus earlier this month in the first high-level visit by French officials in more than two years. French and Syrian relations have been cold since the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, which many have blamed on Syria. Syria, which dominated its smaller neighbor for nearly 30 years, denies the claim. -AP