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DOHA : Lebanon's squabbling political leaders were to meet in Qatar on Friday for talks brokered by the Arab League aimed at ending a long-running feud that drove the country to the brink of a new civil war.
After nearly a week of fighting that left 65 people dead and some 200 wounded, the US-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition agreed to a new national dialogue aimed at electing a president and forming a unity government.
Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani was due to open the talks in a Doha hotel at 9:00 pm (1800 GMT).
A six-point plan was agreed in Beirut on Thursday, under the mediation of an Arab League delegation headed by Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.
Under the deal the rivals undertook to launch a dialogue "to shore up the authority of the Lebanese state throughout the country," to refrain from using weapons to further political aims and to remove militants from the streets.
It also called for the removal of roadblocks that have paralysed air traffic and closed major highways, and for the rivals to refrain from using language that could incite violence.
Life began to return to normal in Beirut on Friday with the port, businesses and many schools reopening.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem told Beirut's pro-opposition daily As-Safir that "Syria supports the agreement."
"This step could be a real opportunity to save Lebanon from the dangers it faces," Muallem said, adding that he had advised the Arab delegation "to close the road of international interference that could have negative impacts."
Lebanon's pro-government daily An-Nahar described the deal as almost miraculous but also warned that the country still remained at the brink.
"The agreement, in some of its clauses, deserves to be labelled an achievement bordering on a miracle," it said.
"Beirut's streets and airport returned to what they were before May 5, but this return does not mean the retreat of the explosive political situation."
The pro-opposition newspaper Al-Akhbar said: "Those going to Doha today carry an immense patriotic duty in their hands.
"Lebanon will be relieved of its leaders for a few days, but people are still worried about picking up the pieces of their lives as they are still under threat in the event the Doha meeting fails to bring a comprehensive solution."
Meanwhile a group of disabled people, some bearing injuries from Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, gathered on the Beirut airport road bearing signs they hope the leaders will see: "If you don't come to an agreement don't come back."
In the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, fighters from the Iranian- and Syrian-backed opposition rose up against pro-government forces last week, taking over swathes of west Beirut in the worst sectarian violence since the civil war.
Hopes of a deal were raised on Wednesday after the government -- in a major climbdown -- cancelled controversial measures against the Shiite militant Hezbollah group that had triggered the unrest.
It rescinded plans to probe a private Hezbollah telecommunications network and reassign the head of airport security over allegations he was close to the Hezbollah, moves its chief Hassan Nasrallah had branded a declaration of war.
Parliament in Beirut is scheduled to convene on June 10 for its 20th attempt to elect a president. Damascus protege Emile Lahoud stepped down at the end of his term of office in November, exacerbating a crisis that began in late 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit Siniora's cabinet.
Both sides agree on army chief Michel Sleiman as Lahoud's successor, but they remain at odds over the details of a proposed unity government and a new electoral law for parliamentary polls due next year.
Despite Thursday's renewed optimism, analysts said the government U-turn over Hezbollah had weakened Siniora's administration and was a slap in the face for Washington's allies in Lebanon.
"This climbdown is a major retreat, not only for the government but the US agenda in Lebanon," political analyst and expert on Hezbollah Amal Saad-Ghorayeb told AFP.
"It... basically shows that force is the only way of dealing with the government."
- AFP /ls
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