May 21, 2008, 16:46 GMT
Beirut - Congratulations was the word on the lips of all Lebanese on Wednesday as they celebrated an agreement to end the political standoff that has crippled the country.
'Mabrouk (congratulations),' called out teenagers wearing white T- shirts as they distributed white roses and sweets along the streets to mark the occasion.
'This is an historic day, all Lebanese should carry white roses and wear white,' the colour of peace, said one teenager.
Others sent text messages reading 'Mabrouk to all of us' or 'Lebanon is safe now' after the country woke up to the news that the Hezbollah-led opposition and the anti-Syrian majority reached an agreement after 18 months of deep differences.
The accord, brokered overnight in the Gulf state of Qatar, envisages the election of a new president in the next few days to fill a position that has been empty for six months.
'It is unbelievable. We went to bed without hope last night and woke up to a miracle that has removed the dark cloud from over our heads,' said Beirut resident Malek Baydoun.
After six days of talks, Lebanon's bitter rivals agreed to elect a new president and form a national unity government in which the opposition would have veto power - a key Hezbollah demand.
Parliament is due to convene in the coming days to elect the army chief, General Michel Suleiman, as president, Qatar's Prime Minister Hamad bin-Jaber al-Thani announced Wednesday.
'The Lebanese have suffered enough, it is time our leaders give us a break and let us live in peace,' said Saaed Mohanna, a Christian resident of the capital.
Mary Bustani, a Christian woman walking barefoot to church in the neighbourhood of Ashrafiyeh, said: 'I came to pray for a lasting peace to prevail in this country.'
In a mosque near the Sunni-Muslim district of Tarek Jadideh, men were praying in silence in an area where heavy clashes took place between forces of the opposition and the ruling majority last week.
'Last week was a nightmare. Muslim brothers were killing each other, now with the wisdom of some of our leaders we have reached a compromise and hopefully the opposition will abide by it and admit that Lebanon is for all of Lebanese,' said Mohammed Hamdan, a supporter of the pro-Western government.
At least 82 people were killed in the fighting that started on May 7, the worst internal conflict since the 1975-1990 civil war.
The violence was triggered by government decisions on May 6 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 Seniora rescinded the two measures, meeting one of Hezbollah's demands and easing tensions in the Lebanese capital.
The talks in Qatar tackled power-sharing in the cabinet and details of a new electoral law. The row has paralysed much of government and left Lebanon with no president since the pro-Syrian head of state Emile Lahoud stepped down in November.
'Let us hope this will be the and of Lebanon's miseries,' said another Beirut resident, Soha Ramadan.
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