Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called
on the Lebanese leadership to follow through on the agreement reached
Wednesday to end a political crisis that brought the country to the
brink of civil war.
'We view this agreement as a positive step towards resolving the
current crisis,' Rice said in a statement.
Rice later told reporters that she spoke with Lebanese Prime
Minister Fouad Seniora.
'We are pleased the people of Lebanon can now get on with their
lives,' she said during a press conference with British Foreign
Secretary David Miliband.
After days of negotiations under the guidance of the Qatari
government in Doha, Lebanese factions wrapped up an agreement that
includes election by Parliament of a new president within days.
Lebanon has been without a head of state since pro-Syrian
president Emile Lahoud left office when his term expired in November,
producing a political stalemate over his successor.
Under the agreement, a new president will be elected by
Parliament, a new cabinet will be named, and the rival factions
promised to revise Lebanon's electoral laws to help prevent future
deadlocks.
The Lebanese Parliament was unable to elect a new president amid
disagreements over powersharing in the cabinet between the majority
and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
The agreement calls for 16 cabinet posts for the majority and 11
for the minority, giving the militant Shiite Muslim movement
Hezbollah the veto authority it had originally sought. Another three
posts will be appointed by the new president.
The outcome was seen as a victory for Hezbollah, whose gunmen took
to the streets earlier this month after the government banned a
telecommunications network operated by the Shiite militants. Fighting
between Hezbollah and rival factions left dozens dead and prompted
fears of a full blown civil war.
The United States blamed the feud on Hezbollah, which has Iranian
and Syrian backing, and lists Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Syria praised Wednesday's agreement.
US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch cautioned against
drawing conclusions that the deal was a victory for Hezbollah, saying
that the militia's violent uprising that cut off sections of Beirut
did not go over well with the Lebanese people.
'The reaction to it has been extremely negative from most Lebanese
and certainly throughout the region,' Welch said.
Meanwhile, US President George W Bush met with Lebanese Maronite
Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir Wednesday at the White House. They did not
address reporters.
USA
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