Region | Lebanon
Lebanese rivals fail to strike deal in Doha
Rival parties reject Qatari mediators' proposals on power sharing.
- Gulf News Report
- Published: 19:23 May 19, 2008
- Image Credit: Reuters
- Speaker Nabih Berri with opposition leader Michel Aoun during an opposition meeting in Doha.
Doha: Tension in Lebanon is expected to rise as last minute efforts to salvage talks between rival parties in Doha suffered a setback on Monday after proposals by Qatari mediators for power sharing were rejected.
Qatari Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jasem Al Thani made proposals on Sunday on a new government composition and the rival parties were expected to hammer out a compromise over a new electoral law.
Agreement on these points would pave the way for parliament to elect army commander General Michel Sulaiman as president.
But a statement issued by opposition leaders restated existing demands, disappointing the ruling coalition.
Shaikh Hamad later met ruling coalition leaders but no breakthrough appeared to have been reached.
The main sticking point appeared to be the composition of the government. Shaikh Hamad proposed a Cabinet of 30 ministers in which the ruling coalition would have 13 seats, the opposition 10 and the new president would name seven.
The opposition says it will only accept a proposal that guarantees it 11 ministers - or veto power in Cabinet.
The Arab League intervened last week to end Lebanon's worst domestic fighting since the 1975-1990 civil war and pave the way for the Doha talks between the US-backed ruling coalition and the opposition to end an 18-month-old crisis.
"Everyone feels that if the talks continue for longer that means we go into diversions ... and that there are those who don't want to reach a deal," Ahmad Fatfat, a member of the US-backed ruling coalition, told LBC television.
"We hope there is a deal tonight, or tomorrow morning, as fast as possible. That is what we are seeking but we won't back down on the principles of this negotiation ... including the issue of weapons."
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