Lebanon Opposition Ignores Qatar Compromise Proposal at Talks
By VOA News
19 May 2008
Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition appears to have ignored a proposal by Qatari mediators aimed at pulling Lebanon out of a political crisis.
Lebanese opposition leaders had been expected to respond to a Qatari proposal - but instead issued a short statement Monday restating their existing demands.
Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabr al-Thani on Sunday offered a proposal for the election of a Lebanese president and the formation of a unity government.
He suggested a government of 30 ministers, including 10 from the opposition. The opposition says it wants more than a third of Lebanon's Cabinet posts.
Qatar has been hosting talks between Lebanon's political rivals in Doha since Friday to try to steer the rival camps away from a potential civil war.
Political bickering in Lebanon has left the country without a president since November.
The Arab League intervened in Lebanon's political crisis last week, after Hezbollah fighters swept across Beirut and attacked government supporters. At least 67 people were killed in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon.
The talks in Qatar also have been strained by the opposition's refusal to discuss Hezbollah's possible disarmament.
Members of Lebanon's ruling coalition say they want guarantees that Hezbollah will no longer use its weapons against the Lebanese people.
Most Lebanese militias disarmed as part of an agreement that ended the country's 15-year civil war in 1990. But Hezbollah was allowed to keep its weapons to fight Israel. It has since built up a significant arsenal.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
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