Hezbollah militants, government reach deal

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — The Hezbollah-led opposition and U.S.-backed government reached a deal Thursday to end Lebanon’s worst violence since the 1975-90 civil war, now that the Cabinet has reversed measures aimed at reining in the Iranian-backed militants.

The feuding factions agreed to hold political talks in Qatar today that will lead to the election of Lebanon’s army chief, Gen. Michel Suleiman, as a compromise president, said Qatari Prime Minister Sheik Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, who headed an Arab League team that mediated the agreement. Immediately after the deal was announced, the opposition cleared a series of roadblocks along Beirut’s airport road that had stopped flights for a week. Shortly afterward, two planes from the Lebanese national carrier, Middle East Airlines, landed.

“The parties pledge not to use weapons or violence again with the aim of scoring political gains,” Hamad told journalists in a conference hall.