Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani also summoned Lebanon's government and Hezbollah-led opposition to Qatar for talks to resolve a broader political showdown which has paralysed the country for 18 months.

"We declare an agreement sponsored by the Arab League to deal with the Lebanese crisis," Sheikh Hamad said.

"The parties pledge to refrain from returning to the use of weapons or violence to realise political gains."

The political talks in Qatar, which start today, would continue "until agreement is reached," he said.

As Sheikh Hamad announced the deal, live television pictures showed mechanical diggers on the airport road removing roadblocks erected by Hezbollah supporters last week as part of a protest campaign against the government.

"The opposition has decided to end the civil disobedience (campaign) and open all roads and routes to the seaport and airport," opposition member of parliament Ali Hassan Khalil told Reuters.

Less than an hour later an airliner from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines landed at the airport, the first commercial flight to the facility in a week.

At least 81 people were killed in the fighting, triggered by government decisions last week to ban the Iranian-backed Hezbollah's communications network and sack Beirut's airport security chief, who is close to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah said those moves were a declaration of war and briefly seized control of Muslim areas of the capital, dealing a severe blow to Washington's allies in the ruling coalition.

On Wednesday, the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora cancelled the two measures, meeting one of Hezbollah's demands and easing tensions in the Lebanese capital.

Hezbollah said the government's climbdown was a "natural way out" of the crisis.

"We want to return to a settlement which leads, in the end, to there being neither victor nor vanquished," Sheikh Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's deputy leader, said after meeting the Arab League delegation.

Hezbollah had also demanded the ruling coalition agree to talks as a condition for ending its civil disobedience campaign.

The talks in Qatar will tackle how to share power in the cabinet and the details of a new parliamentary election law.

The row has paralysed much of government and left Lebanon with no president since November.

Sheikh Hamad said top leaders would attend the talks in Doha but political sources said Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah would not attend because of security concerns.

Hezbollah are set to be represented by a senior official, most likely the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, MP Mohammad Raad, the sources said.

Any deal would result in army commander General Michel Suleiman being elected president.

As well as highlighting US-Iranian tensions, Lebanon's rivalries are also regarded as part of a regional tussle for influence between Saudi Arabia, which supports the ruling coalition, and Syria, which backs the opposition.

The United States has blamed the instability on Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political movement with a guerrilla army.

Iran blames the United States for the violence.

The ruling coalition accuses the opposition of trying to restore Syrian control of Lebanon and secure a stronger foothold for Iran in the country.

Syria dominated Lebanon until 2005, when the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri triggered international pressure that forced it to end its military presence after nearly three decades and plunged Lebanon into crisis.

Nampa-Reuters

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