At least the three-member Presidency actually met once, for four and a half hours, after what one senior diplomat termed a "titanic effort."

The elections will choose a three-member presidency and national parliament drawn from constituencies throughout Bosnia.

The results confirm that the three-member presidency will be led by a Muslim and that most legislative seats went to members of the three dominant nationalist parties.

National elections held last month created a three-member Presidency, led by the Bosnian chairman, Alija Izetbegovic.

Under Mormon tradition, the three-member First Presidency is dissolved upon a president's death and a new leader is ordained by the council of apostles.

Bosnia and Herzegovina has a bicameral legislature and a three-member Presidency composed of a member of each major ethnic group.

Reflecting how little difference there is between their two coalitions, their parties share the same candidate for the Serbian spot on the three-member federal presidency of Bosnia.

Because the three-member presidency is meant to rule by consensus, an alliance between the hard-line Croatian and Serbian leaders would swiftly paralyze the presidency.

His post as the Serbian representative on Bosnia's three-member Presidency went to Zivko Radisic, foreign officials say.

The three-member presidency decided on 25 August to recognise the National Transitional Council as "the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people".