Fouad Siniora, Lebanon?s prime minister,on Tuesday acknowledged that the campaign to oust pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has hit a brick wall and Damascus? allies were instead preparing to stage a show of force to undermine the government.

The anti-Syrian majority in parliament had vowed to remove the president, arguing that the three-year extension of his term in 2004 had been made under Syrian pressure and was therefore unconstitutional.