Search

Lebanese head for crisis talks in Qatar

Reuters - Friday, May 16

BEIRUT - Rival Lebanese leaders head for Qatar on Friday aiming to end a protracted political conflict that pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war.

Leaders of the U.S.-backed ruling coalition and the Hezbollah-led opposition will try to forge a deal to end the standoff which has paralysed government for 18 months and left Lebanon without a president since November.

An Arab League mediation mission sealed an agreement on Thursday which ended fighting between ruling coalition supporters and Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria.

As part of the deal, the sides agreed to meet in Doha. Political sources said on Friday that substantial talks in the Qatari capital were unlikely to start before Saturday.

Syria, which Washington blamed in part for the crisis, said it supported the Qatari-led initiative.

"This step could be a real chance to save Lebanon from the dangers that threaten it," Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told the Lebanese as-Safir newspaper. "We are absolutely with the initiative."

Hezbollah, a Shi'ite military and political group, had routed its opponents in battles that killed 81 and inflamed sectarian tensions with Sunni and Druze followers of the governing coalition.

Hezbollah's military gains -- a blow to the United States, Saudi Arabia and other backers of the governing coalition -- have forced the government to rescind two decisions which the group had said amounted to a declaration of war.

The ruling coalition also appears to have dropped its demands that the election of a new president precede discussions on a new cabinet and a new parliamentary election law -- the two main issues on the agenda of the Qatar talks.

OPPOSITION DEMANDS

"The atmosphere is excellent and we will put our efforts into reaching a solution which is in the interest of all Lebanese," Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an opposition leader allied to Syria, told as-Safir.

The opposition has demanded more say in a cabinet controlled by factions opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon.

The anti-Damascus factions have long accused the opposition of seeking to restore Syrian domination that was brought to an end in 2005. International pressure that year forced Syria to withdraw troops from the country after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

The ruling coalition's refusal to yield to the opposition's demand for veto power in cabinet triggered the resignation of all its Shi'ite ministers in November 2006. Lebanon was plunged into its worst political crisis since the civil war.

A deal would lead to the election of army commander General Michel Suleiman as president. Both sides have long accepted his nomination for a post reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.

Under a deal, the opposition would also remove a protest encampment that has closed off central Beirut since December, 2006.

Recommend this article

Average (0 votes)
0 stars
Sign in to recommend this article »
Most Recommended Stories »

Related Articles: World