BEIRUT, Lebanon, May 21, 2008
Lebanese Factions Reach Deal To End Crisis
Agreement Made In Qatar Is Significant Victory For Hard-Line Shiite Group Hezbollah
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Lebanese soldiers watch a shop damaged in recent unrest in Beirut, Lebanon, Monday, May 19, 2008. Rival Lebanese factions reached an agreement on Wednesday to resolve their 18-month political crisis after five days of intensive talks in the Gulf state of Qatar, officials said. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
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Arab league secretary general Amr Moussa, left, gestures as he meets with Hezbollah's deputy leader Sheik Naim Kassem, center, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, right, in the southern suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday May 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Youths on a scooter ride past a shop set alight in the violence that broke following a shooting at a funeral in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 10, 2008. A Shiite Muslim shop owner opened fire on a funeral procession Saturday, killing two people and wounding six others in a Sunni neighborhood, police and witnesses said. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
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About 300 people attending a protest rally walk toward the Future TV station of top Sunni leader Saad Hariri that was forced to close by Hezbollah guerrillas in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Lebanon's Prime Minister Fuad Saniora speaks during a press conference at the Government House in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, May 10, 2008. Saniora called on the army to restore law and order across Lebanon and remove gunmen from the streets, accusing Hezbollah of staging an armed coup. (AP Photo/Ahmad Omar)
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Photo Essay Muslims Clash In Lebanon Sectarian clashes reminiscent of Lebanon's bloody 15-Year civil war.
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Fast Facts Lebanon Learn about the people, economy and history.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani said at a ceremony Wednesday in Doha that the agreement is be "carried out immediately" and that the election of a new president of Lebanon will follow within 24 hours.
The agreement was a major triumph for Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition, as it met the side's two key demands — veto power in a new national unity government, and an electoral law that divides up Lebanon into smaller-sized districts, for better representation of the various sects.
But the opposition was not gloating, and Hamadeh said "there are no losers" in this agreement. "Lebanon is the winner," he told The Associated Press on the phone from Doha, the Qatari capital.
Qatar's prime minister said Wednesday morning that the election of a new president of Lebanon would take place within 24 hours, following the agreement.
Hamadeh said the factions reached the breakthrough deal at dawn Wednesday. A signing ceremony was expected at 10:30 a.m. (07:30 GMT), chaired by Qatari ruler Emir Sheik Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. Speeches by both sides and the Arab mediators would follow, he said.
An opposition-allied Lebanese parliament speaker said the opposition protest encampment in central Beirut, which has been in place for more than a year, would be dismantled after the deal in Doha.
The Qatar-hosted talks came on the heels of Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war, with clashes earlier this month between pro-government groups and the opposition raging in the streets of Muslim west Beirut, the central mountains and the north. At least 67 people died.
As the country came close to a new all-out war, Arab League mediators intervened and got the sides to agree to hold negotiations in Qatar on resolving the crisis that has paralyzed the country.
Along with veto-power on government policies, the Syrian-backed opposition will get 11 seats in the Cabinet, while 16 seats would go to the U.S. and Western-backed parliament majority, and the remaining three would be distributed by the elected president, according to Hamadeh.
He said the rival factions have also agreed on a new election law satisfactory for both sides. The new electoral law is significant because it will determine how the sides distribute power in the capital and directly influence the outcome of the next parliamentary elections in 2009.
Lebanon has been without a president since November, when Emile Lahoud stepped down, with the rival factions unable to resolve their differences over a future government. Both sides, however, have agreed on Gen. Michel Suleiman, the army chief, as a consensus candidate, but Parliament could not muster a quorum to meet without both sides agreeing on remaining issues — including the formation of the national unity government and electoral law.
Hamadeh said he expected Suleiman to be elected by Friday.
He also said legislators from the parliament majority, who have been living abroad fearing for their safety after a wave of bombings targeting mainly anti-Syrian lawmakers and politicians, would be asked to return to Beirut to vote for the president in parliament.
CBS News' George Baghdadi, reporting from Damascus, said Syria backed the agreement just a few minutes after the parties in Doha had announced it Wednesday.
"Syria supports the accords signed in Doha by Lebanese parties," Foreign Minister Waleed Al-Mualem told reporters in Syria.
Syria was forced to withdraw troops from Lebanon in 2005 after huge demonstrations following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. Nobody has ever been held responsible for his death.
Asked whether the agreement bans Hezbollah's supporters from taking up arms and turning their weapons on fellow Lebanese as they did earlier this month, Hamadeh only said the "agreement forbids internal use of weapons ... and calls for dialogue ... on the whole subject of arms."
The agreement was struck after host Qatar stepped up pressure Tuesday, offering the rival factions two drafts on how to end the deadlock and a day to consider the proposals.
Lebanese television reported that the Qatari Emir intervened personally late Tuesday, arriving at the Doha hotel for meetings with leaders of both Lebanese camps. The emir had visited Saudi Arabia earlier in the day.
The negotiations had hit snags from the very start, with neither side willing to give concessions. By late Tuesday, they were back to working in joint committees on how to divide Beirut into electoral districts.
The 18-month political deadlock started when Hezbollah-led opposition lawmakers resigned from the government in November 2006 to protest the Cabinet's refusal to grant them enough seats to ensure veto power.
The Qatar deal was also a triumph for the tiny energy-rich Gulf state. Lebanon's stalemate had defied mediation efforts by other Arab and European countries, including shuttle diplomacy in the last year by the foreign minister of France, Lebanon's former colonial ruler.
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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- And I thought the Cowardly Cowboy said that peace cannot be acheived by talking to the "enemy." Lebanon must have a different rulebook.
- Reply to this comment
- Is this "appeasement" or simply "communication"? No conflict can ever be RESOLVED unless those involved "speak" to one another! Communication is the only ''efficient and effective'' tool to remedy conflict! For those of you who think otherwise, re-read the above article until you have the ability to "understand" the significance of communication!
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- I hope all of the ''''Christian'''' apologists for sixty years of Israeli barbarism are happy...and take the time to remember that it was Prescott Bush and the same kind of ''''Christians'''' who support the Zionist State today, who helped Adolph Hitler and the Nazis come to power....''''Racism and Book Burning...the Ham and Cheese of the totalitarian sandwich.'''' Cheers!
Posted by Prinzowhales
Where do you get this Nazi drivel..i see it is Israels fault that there are crazy extremist muslim groups who are fighting each other and that Syria is trying to annex Lebanon...I hear they are also responsible for malaria, the common cold and aids...is there anything else that you want to blame them for ??? - Reply to this comment
- Even if Hezbollah puts down thier guns Israel will stil have a problem with Lebanon. The same with Gaza, Hamas could be totaly put down and Israel would find another reason to try and take Gaza. The reason is both of these areas are muslim controlled and have the sympathy of other middle Eastern countries. Therefore Saudi Arabia and other wealthy ME coutries will pour money inot Lebanon and Gaza and help build a solid infastructure and good economic conditions. They will also choose to run pipelines to ports in Lebanon and Gaza as opposed to Israel.
Meanwhile no Arab countries will want to do business with Israel (which is their right since you cannot tell a soviergn country they have to help another country they don''t like)and will not send oil to Israeli ports. Since Israel has no resources like oil, and no friends in the region they will stagnate continuing to rely on U.S. financial aid and a shady banking system to maintain thier economy. Lebanon and Gaza on the other hand will benifit from oil pipelines as well as Arab investment. The tables will eventually turn and Lebanon and Gaza will become more prosperous then Israel. - Reply to this comment
- Olmert is a coward, Prinzowhales, and I for one don''t like a lot of what this current Israeli government, which behaves like a lot of creepy Obamists seem to stand for - like appeasement and capitulation.
Because of Israeli cowardice, the Lebanese government that was willing to stand up to Hizbullah has been abandoned again - but also by us...thanks to dipsh*ts like you and your Democratic friends who''d kiss the rear of Osama Bin Laden if it were offered to you.
Israel is a sorry state these days under Blomert - but a Neo-Nazi like you isn''t much better. Move to Tehran where you belong, Princey - and don''t forget to take the Obamas and Jerry Wright with you. - Reply to this comment
- Prinzowhales -- Burning books eh? Must be an Illuminati tradition. LOL
- Reply to this comment
- So, I guess the USS COLE just wasted a load of fuel off Lebanon and Washington wasted a load of hot air over the Lebanese problems that they resolved on their on....
Did you know they were burning books in Israel? No, not if you were watching CBSNBCABCFOXCNNPBS. Usually you are treated to the image of Nazis tossing books in a big bonfire seventy years, or so, ago. Yet an Israeli town called out the religious students to collect and burn New Testaments.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/985362.html
I hope all of the ''Christian'' apologists for sixty years of Israeli barbarism are happy...and take the time to remember that it was Prescott Bush and the same kind of ''Christians'' who support the Zionist State today, who helped Adolph Hitler and the Nazis come to power....''Racism and Book Burning...the Ham and Cheese of the totalitarian sandwich.'' Cheers! - Reply to this comment
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