Deal gives Hezbollah more power

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) — Lebanon’s feuding factions reached a breakthrough deal Wednesday that ends the country’s 18-month political stalemate, but also gives the militant Hezbollah group and its allies veto over any government decision.

The deal, reached with the help of Arab mediators, was immediately praised by Iran and Syria, which back Hezbollah. But it appears certain to accelerate fears in the West over Hezbollah’s new power.

Pro-government politician and parliament majority leader Saad Hariri seemed to acknowledge his side had largely caved in, spurred by a sharp outbreak of violence earlier this month after months of stalemate.

“I know that the wounds are deep and my injury is deep, but we only have each other to build Lebanon,” he said after the announcement of the deal, which was brokered after five days of talks in Qatar.

Hezbollah’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Raad, downplayed the group’s win.

“Neither side got all it demanded, but [the agreement] is a good balance between all parties’ demands,” he said.

The Bush administration seemed to be trying to put the best face on the deal even though it gave more power to Hezbollah, considered a terrorist group by Washington and Israel.

“We view this agreement as a positive step toward resolving the current crisis,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement. “We call upon all Lebanese leaders to implement this agreement in its entirety.”

The election of a compromise president — the head of Lebanon’s mostly neutral army — was expected Sunday, Lebanon’s state news agency reported.

The Hezbollah-led opposition won both its demands with the deal: veto power in a new national unity government, and an electoral law that divides Lebanon into smaller-sized districts, allowing for better representation of the country’s various sects.

The talks in Qatar and the deal were a dramatic cap to Lebanon’s worst internal fighting since the 1975-90 civil war. At least 67 people were killed when clashes broke out between pro-government groups and the opposition in the streets Beirut and elsewhere earlier this month.