World view

Lebanon's rival factions finally agreed in Qatar's capital to a deal on the formation of a new government of national unity and end the impasse on the election of the president of the country. In the Democratic race for the US presidential nomination Barack Obama has inched closer to victory. In another development, France has acknowledged that it had "informal contacts" with Hamas. These events were contemplated, analysed and commented on. We present here excerpts of editorials from the regional and the international press.

Lebanon deal

After much foot dragging in Doha, Qatar, Lebanon's leaders buried their hatched and agreed to a deal to end an 18-month political feud that had brought the country to the brink of a new civil war. The deal was announced by Qatar's Prime Minister Shaikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al Thani. Lebanon's ruling coalition majority and opposition have now agreed to convene parliament for the election of Army Chief, General Michel Suleiman, as president and form a national unity government. Lebanon has been without a president since last November.

Commenting on the Lebanon development, Arab News remarked: "... as Lebanese Premier Fouad Siniora said 'an exceptional agreement for an exceptional time'."

The Saudi-based daily, however, put the onus on Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah to turn the high hopes into reality. "The key concession has been made to Hezbollah, who, despite their minority position in the government, will have a right of veto ... Therefore though this peace deal may have come out of the barrel of a gun, it remains a political deal. Hezbollah is rejoining Lebanon's government and, in so doing, is signalling its commitment to advance its political platform by peaceful means. Given the proven futility of civil conflict in Lebanon, this is only common sense. It remains to be seen how Nasrallah will use his political power base... The Hezbollah leader now has the chance to demonstrate that his loyalty is first and foremost to his country and not to someone else's."

Lebanon's Daily Star commented that "Lebanon has given itself a chance to end a miserable, murderous cycle".

Qatar's Gulf Times termed it as a "stunning triumph for peace; a badly-needed lifeline for Lebanon; and a diplomatic coup for Doha".

It stated: "In Qatar, the Arab League has found itself a neutral ground to hammer out Arab solutions to Arab problems, away from the prying eyes of regional and world powers. And the success of the Lebanese talks proves that mediation can effectively turn a dead end into an open road - overnight."

France's talks with Hamas

In a dramatic development, France said that it had informal contacts with Hamas. The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner justified it by saying that the talks were "needed to gauge the humanitarian and political situation in the Middle East".

Other European countries are reputed to have had contacts with the Islamic movement which rules Gaza as well.

Commenting on the issue, Jordan Times remarked: "The entities who maintain contacts with Hamas do so out of conviction that it is not as unreasonable as Israel would like the world to believe. Parties who were in contact with Hamas believe that the movement is willing to make peace with Israel provided the Jewish state withdraws from all Palestinian territories it occupied in 1967."

Obama inches ahead

With the primaries in Kentucky and Oregan over, Barack Obama is just a step away from clinching the Democratic party nomination, Hillary Clinton, however, is refusing to quit the race and wants the contest to go to the wire.

Commenting on this rather peculiar fight, Financial Times said: "Do not blame Mrs Clinton for fighting on, blame the wavering super-delegates for failing to bring the contest to a close. If the party is to succeed in November, they had better make up their minds."