From The New York Times, May 22, 2008, by ROBERT F. WORTH and NADA BAKRI:
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The agreement reached by Lebanese political factions early Wednesday amounted to a significant shift of power in favor of ...Hezbollah and its allies in the opposition, who won the power to veto any cabinet decision.
...The agreement was brokered by Arab mediators in Doha, Qatar, and involved intensive last-minute diplomacy among the major regional players in Lebanon, including Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia.....
...But the deal leaves unresolved the questions that provoked the crisis in December 2006. Those include Hezbollah’s weapons and Lebanon’s relations with Syria, which ended its 29-year military presence here in 2005 after the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
The divisive issue of cooperation with a United Nations tribunal to investigate Mr. Hariri’s murder and 10 other killings that followed also remains to be solved. Pro-government officials accuse Syria of involvement in those assassinations...
...The agreement in Doha provides for a government of 16 cabinet seats for the governing majority, 11 for the opposition and 3 to be nominated by the new president. That will allow the opposition to veto cabinet decisions, a demand the governing coalition refused to accept until now....
...Several Lebanese government officials said they felt they had no choice but to accept the deal. Although their side has long had strong verbal support from the United States and Saudi Arabia, they appeared to have overplayed their hand earlier this month when they challenged Hezbollah’s private telecommunications network and its control over the Beirut airport....
Helene Cooper contributed reporting from Washington.
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