BEIRUT, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Lebanon's rival leaders opened their Arab-brokered talks in Doha on Friday, seeking to end a long-running feud to avoid a new civil war, said reports reaching here from the Qatari capital.

    Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani opened the dialogue in a Doha hotel at about 9 pm (1800 GMT). The opening session lasted for just a few minutes.

    The first round of talks proper would take place on Saturday morning, declared the host country's prime minister. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem on Friday expressed the hope that rival Lebanese parties could reach a reconciliation during their dialogue in the Qatar capital Doha.

    Lebanon's pro- and anti-government leaders arrived in Doha earlier Friday to join Arab-sponsored talks on forming a national unity government and a new election law.

    The two sides on Thursday agreed on refraining from using weapons in solving domestic issues after mediation efforts from the Arab ministerial committee chaired by Qatar.

    The Arab ministerial delegation, which arrived in Beirut on Wednesday, met members of the government and the Hezbollah-led opposition who have been locked in a bitter political feud for 18months.

    The delegation came after Lebanon's political crisis boiled to deadly clashes between pro and anti-government supporters, which left at least 72 people dead and about 200 others injured.

    Lebanon is facing the most complicated political crisis since the 1975-1990 civil war. Lebanese political rival groups were unable to achieve a breakthrough to elect a new president for the country since Nov. 24 last year when ex-president Emile Lahoud ended his term.

U.S. supports Lebanon talks in Qatar

    WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States said Friday it supports the Arab League-brokered talks in Qatar that is aimed at ending Lebanon's political crisis.

    "We are pleased that there is now a process, that the fighting in the streets have stopped," said a U.S. State Department official who requested not to be named.

    "What we are doing is making it clear first of all that we do support this process," the official said, adding that the United States will be "helpful but not interfering" in the process.  Full story