peace talks in Doha

Lebanese Christian Forces party MP and government supporter Antoine Zahra (left, seated) talking with Hezbollah deputy Hussein al-Hajj Hassan (right) during a break from a round table meeting between various Lebanese leaders in Doha


gulf news

Doha: Bickering Lebanese politicians postponed the thorny issue of Hezbollah's weapons on Saturday at talks in Qatar aimed at ending a feud that drove their country to the brink of a new civil war.

Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Bin Jabr Al Thani "offered to come up with a proposal on the Hezbollah weaponry issue and present it to the two parties," a Lebanese delegate told reporters.

The proposal came after leaders of the pro-government parliamentary bloc insisted on listing Hezbollah's arms on the agenda of the dialogue, said the delegate, requesting anonymity.

"The two sides have agreed to that," he added following the first session of Arab-mediated talks by 14 leaders and representatives of the pro-Western government and the Hezbollah-led opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.


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Hezbollah was the only group that did not have to hand over its guns to the government following the 1989 Saudi-brokered Taif agreement to end the 1975-1990 civil war, because it was fighting the Israeli occupation of south Lebanon.

'Defining moment'

Despite disagreement over the arms question, the delegates did agree to form a committee of three members from each side to address the issue of a new electoral law for parliamentary polls due next year, the delegate said.

No time has been fixed for the next session, said a source in the Arab League, which is sponsoring the crisis talks, but bilateral meetings were expected to be held on the sidelines of the gathering. In addition to the electoral law, the leaders are expected to discuss a proposed unity government.

"The impression, thank God, from the session, shows the desire among all the factions to reach an understanding ... that will bring us to the beginning of a solution to this crisis," Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told the Voice of Lebanon radio. "We have to have faith and trust that we will do the impossible until we find solutions to this difficult stage that Lebanon has faced the past two weeks."

As the crisis talks progressed, US President George W. Bush said Lebanon was facing a "defining moment" and pledged that the US would stand by the government against Hezbollah.

Speaking to reporters on a visit to Sharm Al Shaikh, Bush accused "radical elements" of trying to undermine the Lebanese government. "It's a defining moment," he said.