CAIRO, 22 March 2005 — Walid Jumblatt, Lebanon’s most prominent opposition leader, said yesterday the fate of the country’s Syrian-backed president should be decided after parliamentary elections in May.

Jumblatt and other Lebanese opposition figures had called for Emile Lahoud to step down after last month’s assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an attack they blamed on Syria. Damascus has denied any role.

But the opposition, which is made up of several groupings, has sent mixed signals about when it wanted Lahoud to go.

Asked if and when he thought Lahoud should resign, Jumblatt told reporters in Cairo: “It’s not a priority now. The priority is elections, (and) a clear timetable for the withdrawal of the Syrians from Lebanon before the elections.” “Then, after the result of the elections, we will see what will happen (about) the future for President Lahoud,” he said.

Key allies Hariri and Jumblatt fell out with Syria after it insisted last September that Lebanon’s Parliament, where a majority of deputies are pro-Syrian, renew Lahoud’s term for another three years.

Lebanese officials say Lahoud is not considering stepping down. Lahoud called on Saturday for dialogue between loyalists and the opposition, a call which the opposition has dismissed.

Hariri’s killing sparked Lebanese opposition and international pressure on Syria to withdraw from Lebanon before the May elections.

The United States says a withdrawal is needed for parliamentary polls to be fair.

Jumblatt said the opposition was in dialogue with Hezbollah but that disarming its guerrillas was a domestic issue.

“On the subject of Hizbollah’s weapons, this is an internal subject. We hope that we will reach a result through dialogue later, but, at this time, this subject of weapons is not under discussion,” Jumblatt said after talks in Egypt’s capital with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.