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REGION: Middle East
TOPIC: Politics
Online NewsHour
UPDATE Posted: May 15, 2008, 2:40 PM ET   

Deal Reached to End Fighting in Lebanon Standoff

Arab mediators brokered a deal on Thursday to end days of fighting between the government and Hezbollah after the government's ruling coalition backed down on two measures that infuriated the opposition.
Soldiers in Lebanon; file photo

"The opposition has decided to end the civil disobedience (campaign) and open all roads and routes to the seaport and airport," Ali Hassan Khalil, an opposition member of parliament told Reuters.

Under the deal, both sides pledged not to use weapons to settle political differences and to end an armed presence in the streets. The fighting, considered the worst since the country's civil war, claimed the lives of 81 people.

The conflict began on May 6, when the government accused Hezbollah, a Shiite group backed by Syria and Iran, of spying on the Beirut airport and fired the head of airport security, an official that was closely linked to the Hezbollah. The following day fighting broke out on the streets of Beirut, and 10 people were wounded when pro-government Sunni and Druze fighters clashed with gunmen.

On May 8, the government said it would dismantle Hezbollah's private phone network, a move the group's leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said was a declaration of war because the group's communication is an essential part of its activities and weapons.

"We have said before that we will cut off the hand that targets the weapons of the resistance," Nasrallah said.

Fighting escalated until the Lebanese cabinet announced on Wednesday that it would revoke the two decisions. The news was met with celebratory gunfire in the streets of Beirut's southern suburbs.

Ghazi Aridi, Lebanon's information minister said the cabinet's reversal was, "in view of the higher national interest."

The Arab League delegation that brokered the deal called on both sides to attend talks in Doha, Qatar on Friday to resolve the broader crisis between the government and Hezbollah-led opposition.

Power-sharing talks between Hezbollah and the U.S.-backed ruling coalition have paralyzed Lebanon for the past 18-months and left the country without a president since November 2007.

Hezbollah left the national unity coalition cabinet in 2006 after demanding enough cabinet posts to obtain veto power over government decisions and revisions to electoral law.

The current round of talks will continue in Qatar "until agreement is reached," said Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani on Thursday.


---- Compiled from wire reports and other media sources

ONLINE NEWSHOUR LINKS

May 9, 2008
Hezbollah Gunmen Seize Control of Beirut Neighborhoods


May 8, 2008
Clashes Erupt as Hezbollah Chief Claims 'War'


January 30, 2008
In-depth Coverage: Israeli-Hezbollah Clash




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Lebanon
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