News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) A Lebanese minister, hosted by Qatar mediators, has announced details of a political deal intended to end the 18-month-old crisis between the Lebanese government's anti-Syrian majority and allied pro-Syrian and Hizbullah forces. Lebanese Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh signed the agreement in a ceremony chaired by Qatari ruler Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani. It calls for General Michel Suleiman to take over as president, a position that was vacated in November.
 
The agreement also does not disarm Hizbullah and simply "forbids internal use of weapons ... and calls for dialogue ... on the whole subject of arms," Hamadah said. Israel has expressed increasing concern that Hizbullah has stockpiled advanced weapons far and beyond its capability before the Second Lebanon War.