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Rival Lebanon leaders clinch deal to end crisis
2008-05-21
Rival Lebanese leaders clinched a deal on Wednesday to end an 18-month political feud that exploded into deadly sectarian fighting and threatened to plunge the nation into civil war. The agreement, announced after days of tense talks in Doha, will see a president elected on Sunday and the creation of a unity government in which the Hezbollah-led opposition will have the power of veto. US-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora described the deal as a "great achievement in ... the history of Lebanon" although analysts said it appeared grievances remained unresolved particularly over Hezbollah's military might. The two sides had been negotiating since Friday in an Arab-mediated bid to end a political standoff that erupted into deadly street battles this month, the worst sectarian unrest since the 1975-1990 civil war. The accord was hailed in Washington and regional states, which back both factions, as signs of renewed stability in country that has been battered by years of conflict, political turmoil and a string of assassinations. Lebanese themselves reacted with relief but were wary this might be only a temporary reprieve for their deeply divided nation. "Hopefully this is not a band-aid solution and is a long-lasting one; people need to live in peace," said Aleco Assaf, 64, as a long-running opposition protest that turned the heart of Beirut into a virtual ghost town was finally coming to an end. The deal calls for the election of army chief Michel Sleiman as president, the formation of a unity government in which the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition has a veto, a new election law and a ban on the use of weapons in internal conflicts. Parliament speaker Nabih Berri was to convene lawmakers within 24 hours for the vote but a senior Siniora aide said parliament would now meet on Sunday. The rival factions had agreed last year on electing Sleiman as the successor to Damascus protege Emile Lahoud, who stepped down at the end of his term in November. But the Sunni-led government and the mainly Shiite opposition differed over power-sharing and a new electoral law, and parliament has previously put off 19 attempts to elect a successor to Lahoud. The ruling majority will have 16 seats in the cabinet and be able to choose the prime minister, while the opposition will have 11 seats with the power of veto. Another three posts will be nominated by the elected president, who under Lebanon's multiconfessional system must be a Maronite Christian. Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Centre, said the deal would create a "new balance of power" in Lebanon but that the opposition veto was a major setback for the government. "But it will not resolve the basic contradictions, because there are two states, the state itself and the Hezbollah which is another state," he said. David Welch, US deputy secretary for Near Eastern affairs, described the agreement as a "welcome development. "It is a necessary and positive step toward accomplishing what the Arab League's initiative on Lebanon was designed to do," electing a president of Lebanon, forming a new government and revising the electoral law, he said. Mohammed Chatah, a senior advisor to Siniora, rejected claims the accord was a triumph for Hezbollah, viewing it rather as a victory for the government's agenda. "The details of the agreement are meant to unlock the political process and to restore normal functioning of institutions," Chatah told AFP. "That is going to happen as a result of this agreement and that in our view is certainly a victory for the state and a victory for the government's agenda." The crisis erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the Siniora cabinet, which has the support of Washington and regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, and the opposition later launched a tent protest in Beirut. It degenerated into street battles in early May, with fighters from Hezbollah and its allies temporarily seizing control of large swathes of west Beirut from their Sunni rivals. A total of 65 people died. Disagreements over Hezbollah's large arsenal proved a stumbling block in the talks, with government representatives insisting that it be on the agenda and the Shiite militant group saying the issue is not up for discussion. Hezbollah was the only movement not required to disarm after the civil war, saying their weapons were a means to defend the country against Israel. Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in 2000 but fought a devastating war against Hezbollah guerrillas in the summer of 2006.
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