BEIRUT—Arab League mediators announced a deal on Thursday to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the civil war, after the U.S.-supported government backed down in its conflict with Hezbollah.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani also summoned Lebanon's government and Hezbollah-led opposition to Qatar for talks to resolve a broader political showdown which has paralysed the country for 18 months.
"We declare an agreement sponsored by the Arab League to deal with the Lebanese crisis," said Sheikh Hamad, who led the Arab mediators. "The parties pledge to refrain from returning to the use of weapons or violence to realise political gains."
The political talks in Qatar, which start on Friday, would continue "until agreement is reached," he said.
As Sheikh Hamad announced the deal, mechanical diggers on the airport road removed roadblocks erected by Hezbollah supporters last week as part of a protest campaign against the government.
"The opposition has decided to end the civil disobedience (campaign) and open all roads and routes to the seaport and airport," opposition member of parliament Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters.
Less than an hour later an airliner from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines landed at the airport, the first commercial flight to the facility in a week. A roadblock at the main border crossing between Beirut and Damascus was also lifted.
Fighting
At least 81 people were killed in the fighting, the worst internal conflict since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The violence was triggered by government decisions last week to ban the Iranian-backed Hezbollah's communications network and sack Beirut's airport security chief, who is close to Hezbollah.
Hezbollah said those moves were a declaration of war and briefly seized control of Muslim areas of the capital, dealing a severe blow to Washington's allies in the ruling coalition.
On Wednesday the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora cancelled the two measures, meeting one of Hezbollah's demands and easing tensions in the Lebanese capital.
Hezbollah, which had also demanded the ruling coalition agree to talks on political powers as a condition for ending its civil disobedience campaign, said the government's climbdown was a "natural way out" of the crisis.
"We want to return to a settlement which leads, in the end, to there being neither victor nor vanquished," said Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's deputy leader.
Washington, which blames Hezbollah and its allies for Lebanon's instability, declined to criticise the Siniora government for rescinding last week's measures.
"I don't think it's appropriate to start second-guessing those people who are making decisions that literally will determine the future of democracy in Lebanon—whether it survives to fight another day, another week, another month, another year," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
The talks in Qatar will tackle how to share power in the cabinet and the details of a new parliamentary election law. The row has paralysed much of government and left Lebanon with no president since November.
Sheikh Hamad said top leaders would attend the talks in Doha but political sources said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would not attend because of security concerns.
Hezbollah are set to be represented by a senior official, most likely the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, the sources said.
Any deal would result in army commander General Michel Suleiman being elected president.
As well as highlighting U.S.-Iranian tensions, Lebanon's rivalries are also regarded as part of a regional tussle for influence between Saudi Arabia, which supports the ruling coalition, and Syria, which backs the opposition.
The United States has blamed the instability on Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political movement with a guerrilla army. Iran blames the United States for the violence.
The ruling coalition accuses the opposition of trying to restore Syrian control of Lebanon and secure a stronger foothold for Iran in the country.
Syria dominated Lebanon until 2005, when the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri triggered international pressure that forced it to end its military presence after nearly three decades and plunged Lebanon into crisis.
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