MIDDLE EAST:Arab League mediators announced a deal yesterday to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the civil war after the US-supported government backed down in its conflict with Hizbullah.
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani also invited Lebanon's government and Hizbullah-led opposition for talks to resolve a broader political stand-off which has paralysed the country for 18 months.
"We declare an agreement sponsored by the Arab League to deal with the Lebanese crisis," Sheikh Hamad said. "The parties pledge to refrain from returning to the use of weapons or violence to realise political gains." The political talks in Qatar, which start today, would continue "until agreement is reached", he said.
As Sheikh Hamad announced the deal, live television pictures showed mechanical diggers on the airport road removing roadblocks erected by Hizbullah supporters last week as part of a protest campaign against the government.
"The opposition has decided to end the civil disobedience [campaign] and open all roads and routes to the seaport and airport," opposition member of parliament Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters.
Less than an hour later, an airliner from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines landed at the airport, the first commercial flight to the facility in a week.
At least 81 people were killed in the fighting, triggered by government decisions last week to ban the Iranian-backed Hizbullah's communications network and sack Beirut's airport security chief, who is close to Hizbullah.
Hizbullah called these moves a declaration of war and briefly seized control of Muslim areas of the capital, dealing a severe blow to US allies in the ruling coalition.
On Wednesday, the cabinet of prime minister Fouad Siniora cancelled the two measures, meeting one of Hizbullah's demands and easing tensions. Hizbullah said the government's climbdown was a "natural way out" of the crisis.
"We want to return to a settlement which leads, in the end, to there being neither victor nor vanquished," Sheikh Naim Kassem, its deputy leader, said after meeting the Arab League delegation.
Hizbullah had also demanded that the ruling coalition agree to talks as a condition for ending its civil disobedience campaign.
The talks will tackle how to share power in the cabinet, and a new parliamentary election law. The row has paralysed much of government and left Lebanon with no president since November.
Sheikh Hamad said top leaders would attend the talks in Doha, but Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah may not attend because of security concerns.
Any deal would result in army commander Gen Michel Suleiman being elected president.
As well as highlighting US-Iranian tensions, Lebanon's rivalries are also seen as part of a regional tussle for influence between Saudi Arabia, which supports the ruling coalition, and Syria, which backs the opposition. The US has blamed the instability on Iran, Syria and Hizbullah. Iran blames the US for the violence.
The ruling coalition accuses the opposition of trying to restore Syrian control of Lebanon and secure a stronger foothold for Iran in the country.
Syria dominated Lebanon until 2005, when the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri triggered international pressure that forced it to end its military presence after nearly three decades, and plunged Lebanon into crisis.