Lebanon factions reach deal to end crisis

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Lebanon's Western-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition reached a deal Wednesday to end an 18-month political crisis that pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war.

In exchange for veto power and a redistricting plan ahead of next year's elections, the Hezbollah opposition agreed to end its sit-in protest that has paralyzed downtown Beirut since late 2006.

Wednesday's agreement, reached under the mediation of an Arab League committee led by Qatar's prime minister, paves the way for the election of a new president -- a position that has remained vacant since November.

"There is a written agreement with Arab sponsorship, and we insist on its fulfillment," Hezbollah parliament member Hussein Hajj Hassan told Lebanese television.

Minutes after the deal was announced, Hezbollah sit-in protesters started dismantling their tents in downtown Beirut and allowing access to the six-block area. Watch the tents being dismantled »

Tourists flocked to the previously off-limits area to take photographs of the district where streets, shops and restaurants have been closed for the past year and a half as a result of the sit-in.

The agreement was welcomed by Syria -- a main backer of Hezbollah -- as well as leaders in Lebanon's government and its key ally, the United States.

The top U.S. diplomat for the Middle East brushed off suggestions that the deal amounts to a concession to Hezbollah.

"It's not for us to decide how Lebanon does this," said David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

He told reporters that the Lebanese people will be able to express their opinion of Hezbollah during next year's parliamentary elections.

The deal came after five days of intense talks in Doha, Qatar. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who took part in the negotiations, called the agreement "a big accomplishment."

But it follows what many see as a major political victory by Hezbollah, whose armed supporters took to the streets of Beirut earlier this month after Lebanon's government banned a telecommunications system used by the Shia militia.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah called the government's attempts to control the militia -- which also has political representation in Lebanon -- "a declaration of open war" and vowed that his supporters would defend themselves.

Minutes after his address, Hezbollah gunmen exchanged fire with pro-government militias in the streets of Beirut. The violence spread across other areas of Lebanon, and soon became the worst outbreak of internal strife to hit the country since the end of its civil war in 1991.

The fighting ended a week later when the Lebanese government gave in to two key Hezbollah demands -- lifting a government ban of Hezbollah's telecommunications system and reinstating the chief of security at Beirut's airport.

That arguably put Hezbollah in a strong position to negotiate its further demands during the Doha talks to end Lebanon's political crisis.

Lebanon's parliament is scheduled to vote Sunday on whether to elect army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman as president. The presidency has been vacant since pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud's term ended in November. Parliament has tried 19 times to vote for a new president, but has failed because of disagreements on how to share power in a future Cabinet.

Wednesday's deal outlines a consensus government in which the Cabinet would be comprised of 30 posts -- 16 for the majority, 11 for the Hezbollah-led opposition, and three set aside for the president to nominate.

The seat allocation was a key sticking point for the opposition, which wanted to ensure that it had the power to veto major decisions. With 11 Cabinet posts, it will have that power.

Lebanon's elected, pro-Western government has long been locked in a power struggle with Hezbollah. In public statements and demonstrations in recent years, the militant group threatened to use its power and popularity to oust the Sunni-led government, triggering fears of a new civil war that could further destabilize the volatile region.

Hezbollah has been linked to numerous terrorist attacks against U.S., Israeli, and other Western targets and the United States lists it as a terrorist organization. But many in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East -- particularly Shiites -- view Hezbollah militants as freedom fighters.

Many leaders of Lebanon's various political factions said Wednesday's agreement is a good start toward ending the stalemate.

"The wounds are deep, especially mine, but we only have each other," said Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, son of the killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

"All members of the March 14 forces have made sacrifices," he said, referring to the anti-Syrian political bloc that he heads.

"We want all Lebanese to live together in peace. I thank the opposition because it has also made compromises."

CNN's Cal Perry contributed to this report

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