BEIRUT, Lebanon - No president will be elected in Lebanon unless the Syrian-backed opposition gets a veto power in the future government, the leader of the militant Hezbollah group said Wednesday.

Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also accused the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority of creating the current presidential deadlock by refusing a partnership with the Hezbollah-led opposition.

"A solution lies in a partnership through a constitutional guarantee (and) through a veto power for the opposition, which represents more than half of the Lebanese people," Nasrallah said in an interview with the private Lebanese NBN television. The interview was aired simultaneously by Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.

Nasrallah said his party supported Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman for president to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term ended on Nov. 23 without a successor being chosen.

But Suleiman's election, he said, "will not solve the problem without a national unity government in which the opposition gets a veto power."

A parliamentary session to elect Lebanon's president was postponed for the 11th time on Dec. 28 with feuding factions deadlocked over a constitutional amendment and the shape of a future government. A new parliament session has been set for Jan. 12.

The crisis over the presidency has capped a yearlong power struggle between anti-Syrian politicians, who hold a slim majority in parliament and support the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, and the opposition, led Hezbollah.

Nasrallah blamed the deadlock on the ruling coalition, "which wants to fully control authority and rejects partnership with the other party."

"Today, the real problem is the principle of partnership. A veto power means that the opposition becomes a partner (in government)," Nasrallah said.

Lawmakers on both sides have agreed to back Suleiman as a compromise candidate, but parliament must first amend the constitution to allow a sitting military chief to become president.

This process has been complicated by the opposition's demand for a new unity government that would give it veto power over major decisions. Opposition boycotts have thwarted attempts to choose a president by preventing a two-thirds quorum.

The ruling coalition accuses the opposition of obstructing the presidential vote under orders from Syria and Iran, which back Hezbollah. In turn, the opposition claims pro-government groups in the parliament majority follow U.S. policies.

Nasrallah also said opposition leaders will meet in the next 10 days to decide on next measures to deal with the ruling coalition.

The Lebanese opposition will move if French and Arab mediation efforts fail to resolve the Lebanese standoff, he said.

Nasrallah also dismissed as untrue reports on a political conflict within Hezbollah.

Such reports are only purposed to distort the image of Hezbollah in both Arab and Muslim worlds, he said, reiterating that his group was operating independently of Syria and Iran.

He said Hezbollah is responsible for its own decisions and is not influenced by Iranian policy.

"We have more influence on Iranian policy in the region than they have influence on us," he said.

He also accused Washington of seeking to find a pro-US government in Lebanon, to end Lebanese resistance groups, to settle Palestinian refugees and to use Beirut to put the squeeze on Syria to give in to US demands.

He reiterated the opposition demand of having 11 cabinet ministers in a 30-member government.

However, Nasrallah voiced willingness to discuss the issue of his group's weapons only once a national unity government is set up and a defensive strategy is put in place. -With Agnecies