Qatari mediator pushes proposals at Lebanon talks

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The Qatari prime minister made detailed proposals to the two sides on Sunday night and held talks with the rival leaders in the early hours of Monday, delegates said.

The Arab League intervened last week to end Lebanon's worst domestic fighting since the 1975-90 civil war and invited the country's feuding U.S.-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition To talks in Qatar.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters briefly took control of the Muslim parts of Beirut in the fighting against outgunned government loyalists that killed at least 81 people.

The Shi'ite Hezbollah fighters' routing of Sunni and Druze pro-government gunmen gave the violence a sectarian tone and threatened to plunge the country into a new civil war.

After two days of tough bargaining in Doha, Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani presented the rivals with proposals to resolve the issues at the heart of the political conflict that had paralysed Lebanon for 18 months and left it without a president since November.

Sheikh Hamad made the proposals verbally on Sunday night and held separate talks with the rivals into the early hours of Monday, delegates said.

He expected answers from both camps later in the day. He had made specific proposals on the two main issues: the formation of a new government and a new election law.

Agreement would pave the way for parliament to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman as president.

The main sticking point appeared to be over the formation of the government, the delegates said. Sheikh 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 the remaining seven ministers.

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