BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Emile Lahoud served his term as president to the very last moment, a symbolic gesture of defiance against his enemies, who long sought to oust Damascus' top ally in Lebanon.

A standoff in parliament means Lahoud leaves with no successor — only the second time the country has failed to choose a president since Lebanon's independence from France in 1943. The last time, in 1988 during the tumult of civil war, precipitated one of the worst rounds of fighting.
Lahoud's opponents, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and his government, have said they will assume the presidential powers, as the constitution instructs. But Lahoud contends Saniora's Cabinet is unconstitutional since opposition Shiite lawmakers quit it.
In a vaguely worded statement issued as he left office, Lahoud said the country was in a ""state of emergency"" and that the army would ensure stability, though he did not give the military political powers.
But the outgoing president seemed unconcerned about the political turmoil he left behind — a legacy of the bitter divisiveness of his nine years in power.
A smiling Lahoud, 71, said goodbye to his staff as a military band played at his palace in the hilly suburb of Baabda and he reviewed an honor guard late Friday night, the legal end of his term.
""My conscience is clear,"" he told reporters before leaving in his car. ""Lebanon is still well.""
He called on Lebanese leaders to work toward finding a consensus candidate to succeed him — then blasted the Western-backed government of Saniora. ""This government is illegitimate and unconstitutional. They know that, even if (President) Bush said otherwise,"" he said.
As Lahoud issued his defiant goodbye, some 2,000 government supporters set off fireworks in the capital, celebrating his departure. They beat drums, distributed sweets and shouted, ""Lahoud Out!""
Syrian factions wanted him out long ago, ever since 2005 when Syria's 29-year domination of Lebanon ended and Syrian troops were withdrawn from the country. But even after elections that year gave the anti-Syrian camp a majority in parliament, they were unable to force him to resign.
Lahoud stuck it out in an alliance with the Hezbollah. Hezbollah and other opposition groups have thwarted attempts to choose a successor by boycotting votes in Parliament.
A former chief of the army, Lahoud was elected for a six-year term in 1998, when Syria still determined who held the post.
He quickly became locked in a power struggle with the powerful former prime minister, Rafik Hariri.
Under Syrian pressure, the constitution was changed to give Lahoud three more years in office in 2004. Hariri initially went along but later resigned and was assassinated in a massive suicide bombing in February 2005.
The giant protests that ensued, along with intense pressure from the West, forced Syria to withdraw from the country.
Throughout, Lahoud insisted he was maintaining Lebanon's independence from those he said sought to dominate it — the United States, France and Israel.
Under his watch, Israel withdrew its army from southern Lebanon in 2000. But Israel launched massive bombardment of the country last year in its war with Hezbollah that devastated southern Lebanon.