(Adds Fneish quotes on captured Israeli soldiers) By Tom Perry BEIRUT, March 30 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged rival Lebanese leaders to break their political deadlock through dialogue. He was making his first official visit to Lebanon after attending an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia at which little visible progress was made towards resolving the protracted crisis. "I again urge the leaders of Lebanon to engage in dialogue for the purpose of promoting national reconciliation," Ban told reporters after talks with parliament speaker Nabih Berri. He also urged politicians to make progress towards creating a U.N.-backed tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of ex-premier Rafik al-Hariri. The court is one of the issues dividing Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government from the opposition led by the Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah group. "I welcome Lebanese national consensus on the tribunal but stress the importance of moving forward on this issue," Ban said. "I urged the parties to find a quick solution to this issue while respecting Lebanon's constitutional procedures." Siniora sent a draft law on the court to Berri's office on Friday, but no one was there to receive it, officials said. The opposition says Siniora's attempt to send the bill to parliament was timed to show Ban that constitutional channels are closed and that the court will have to be set up by other means, such as an enforceable U.N. Security Council resolution. "It would be premature for me to mention ... Chapter 7 provisions when all constitutional procedures and measures have not yet been taken," Ban said after talks with Siniora. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, says it supports the tribunal in principle, but wants to ensure it cannot be exploited politically. Pro-government leaders blame Syria for Hariri's 2005 killing. Damascus denies involvement. "NO PROOF OF LIFE" For security reasons Ban stayed away from U.N. headquarters in downtown Beirut, where opposition supporters have camped out since Dec. 1 as part of a campaign to topple the government. Instead, hundreds of U.N. staff were driven in buses across Beirut to meet the secretary-general at a seafront hotel. Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, has held inconclusive talks this month with Saad al-Hariri, son of the slain former premier. Hariri's Sunni Muslim-led faction holds a majority in parliament and is the mainstay of Siniora's government. Contacts between Saudi Arabia and Iran helped calm street clashes between rival factions in January, but Lebanon's institutions remain paralysed over the opposition's demand for a unity government in which it would hold veto power. Ban also met Hariri and key allies and Hezbollah's Mohammed Fneish, who quit Siniora's cabinet along with other opposition ministers in November. On Saturday the U.N. chief will visit a U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon that was expanded to 13,000 from 2,000 after a July-August war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The war was triggered when Hezbollah raided northern Israel and captured two soldiers. The United Nations is mediating talks to secure a prisoner swap between the group and Israel, which believes the soldiers were seriously wounded during capture. Ban said: "I am disappointed that there has not been proof of life of the two Israeli soldiers. This is a humanitarian matter." Hezbollah want to exchange them for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails. Speaking after meeting Ban, Fneish blamed Israel for holding up the negotiations for the soldiers' release. "Within the current framework of negotiations, Hezbollah has all the readiness to find a quick solution to this problem, the problem of the prisoners," Fneish said.
