By Xinhua,
Beirut : The rival Lebanese blocs have agreed on refraining from using weapons in solving domestic issues, an Arab ministerial delegation said here Thursday.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani, head of the delegation, announced in a press conference that the agreement deal was reached between Lebanese rival leaders.
He added that all the Lebanese parties will attend an internal dialogue scheduled in Doha on Friday and would stay until an agreement is reached.
Sheikh Hamad read the details of the agreement which started with the “return of the situation to the way it was before last week confrontation.”
The agreement called for ending armed appearances, pulling gunmen from the streets and reopening all roads and the international airport, said Sheikh Hamad, stressing that the Lebanese army will be responsible for the security in the country.
The dialogue in Doha would focus on the national unity government, the new election law, said Sheikh Hamad, adding that the tent sit-in at downtown will be removed on the eve of electing the consensus president Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman.
The Arab ministerial delegation, which arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, met members of the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition who have been locked in a bitter political feud for 18months.
The delegation came after Lebanon’s political crisis boiled to deadly clashes between pro and anti-government supporters, which left at least 72 people dead and about 200 others injured.
The clashes broke out last Wednesday after the Lebanese cabinet decided to cease the private communication network of Hezbollah, and remove airport security chief Gen. Wafik Shqaier for alleged links to Hezbollah.
But a statement released on Wednesday said the Lebanese government decided to cancel the two measures “in order to preserve national peace and stop the blood shed, and the sectarian discord.”
Lebanon is facing the most complicated political crisis since1975-1990 civil war. Lebanese political rival groups were unable to achieve a breakthrough to elect a new president for the country since Nov. 24 last year when ex-president Emile Lahoud ended his term.
Lebanese leaders agreed on Suleiman as a candidate, but could not agree on the shape of the new government and the new election law.