Speaker Nabih "Berri received a called from Mussa who informed him that he will return Friday to Beirut to pursue his efforts," spokesman Ali Hamdan told AFP.

Mussa travelled to Lebanon twice in January for talks with politicians from the Western-backed ruling majority and the opposition backed by Syria and Iran on electing a president to replace pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud.

On January 5, Mussa proposed a three-point Arab initiative calling for army chief General Michel Sleiman to replace Lahoud, whose term ended on November 23.

The initiative also calls for the formation of a national unity government in which no one party has veto power, and the adoption of a new electoral law.

Lebanon's ruling coalition has accepted the plan but the Hezbollah-led opposition is demanding a third of the seats in a new government so the opposition can have veto power.

Parliament is due to convene on February 11 to elect a new president after 13 previous sessions since September were scrapped amid political bickering between the country's rival politicians.

Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on January 27 and urged all sides in the dispute to vote for Sleiman on February 11.