Described as “tough” and a “good guy” by US President George W Bush but a US puppet by his foes, Siniora managed to survive a tumultuous three years in office despite being effectively confined to his Beirut headquarters by an opposition protest.

He has been heading a caretaker government since Suleiman’s election on Sunday.

He said he was ready to bow out of politics but would stay on if asked by the ruling bloc.

“I served for three years and I believe it is somehow time for a change,” he said. “I’ve had enough, it’s time for me to go and seek other matters that have to do with public affairs.”

Siniora, 64, oversaw the huge banking interests of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri – and ran the nation’s finances in all five governments led by the late tycoon – before Hariri was killed in a February 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront. He was then thrust into the political limelight by Hariri’s son and political heir Saad Hariri, who first nominated him as premier.

Since then he has held on to the reins despite a blistering war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006, a string of attacks on anti-Syrian critics, a deadly standoff with Islamist militiamen and a paralysing political feud.

But his biggest challenge came earlier this month when Hezbollah staged a brazen takeover of mainly Sunni west Beirut after the government adopted measures against the Shia Muslim militant group that were eventually rescinded.

Siniora, who enjoys the backing of Sunni-ruled Arab states such as regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia as well as the West, has largely kept a statesmanlike calm in the rough and tumble of Lebanon’s divisive politics and sectarian unrest.

Siniora formed his first cabinet in July 2005 after anti-Syrian MPs swept legislative polls that later saw politicians from the Damascus- and Tehran backed Hezbollah take a seat in the cabinet for the first time.

But he faced an uphill battle against the opposition, which pulled out its ministers in November 2006 in a move that set off the latest political crisis. Hezbollah gained ground after its 34-day war with Israel in which 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed.

Born into a Sunni Muslim family in the southern port city of Sidon, Siniora is married with three grown children and is a practising Muslim. A devotee of Arabic literature, he writes poetry and is a fan of classical music. -AFP