Lebanese leaders hold crisis talks

Lebanese leaders hold crisis talks

Majority leader Saad al-Hariri, a Sunni Muslim, and Shi'ite Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a key opposition leader, held late-night talks a day after their first meeting since the crisis erupted in November.

The two had earlier issued a joint statement reporting progress at Thursday's talks and saying they would meet again.

"During the dialogue several points of concurrence emerged as well as several points that require more talks and positive debate," the statement said.

"On this basis, Speaker Berri and MP Hariri agreed to resume discussions at a meeting to be held in the very near future."

Political sources said both leaders were negotiating on behalf of other leaders in each camp and sounded upbeat in their assessment of the talks.

"We are in front of a new chance for a political solution in Lebanon," Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah told supporters attending a religious ceremony. "I tell everyone: Don't waste this chance, let's cooperate to ensure its success."

VETO POWER

Berri and his allies -- Christian leader Michel Aoun and Hezbollah -- are locked in a power struggle with the Hariri-led coalition behind Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's government because Siniora refused to give them veto power in cabinet.

In November, all the Shi'ite ministers resigned to protest at Siniora's refusal to meet their demands. Hezbollah is backed by Syria and Iran while Saudi Arabia, France and the United States support Siniora and the ruling coalition.

A key demand of the ruling coalition is a tribunal to try suspects in the assassination in 2005 of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The tribunal has yet to be ratified by parliament and the opposition fears it may be used as a political tool in its current form.

A U.N. inquiry has implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the killing, but Syria denies involvement.

Saad al-Hariri, who leads the Future group to which Siniora belongs, is the son and political heir of the assassinated Rafik al-Hariri.

Political sources said any deal would be based on passing the tribunal law in parliament after some amendments and expanding the cabinet to include more opposition ministers.

Talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the past weeks showed that both countries were eager to avoid any Sunni-Shi'ite confrontation in Lebanon that would echo Iraq's troubles, the sources said.

That understanding facilitated the negotiations in Beirut and raised the chances of their success before an Arab summit in Riyadh at the end of March, they said.

Opposition activists have been camped near Siniora's offices in central Beirut since Dec. 1. The sit-in has bought the city's commercial and financial hub to a virtual standstill.