BEIRUT (AFP) - Lebanon's rival political leaders met for a third round of talks on Monday to formulate a national defense strategy.

Expectations for a breakthrough in the discussions remain low however, given the deep-seated differences among the rival camps which are gearing up for parliamentary elections due next year.
""Personally, I regret to say that I am not optimistic because the differences are still significant,"" MP Salim Aoun, a member of the opposition Change and Reform bloc, told AFP.
He said the parliamentary majority does not want the issue of a national defense strategy resolved in order to use it ""as a playing card in the bazaar of local politics and to use it to collect votes in the election.""
As-Safir newspaper quoted Walid Jumblatt, a member of the parliamentary majority, as saying: ""Discussions on the national defense strategy will take a long time, an agreement on it will be delayed.""
Monday's session follows two rounds of talks in September and November and is being attended by 14 leaders representing each of the main parliamentary blocs.
Lebanon endured a damaging 18-month political crisis that brought the country close to civil war earlier this year before a Qatari-brokered deal between the rival groups.