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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Lebanon agrees unity government | Lebanon agrees unity government |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| Lebanese political leaders have agreed on the make-up of a national unity government after six weeks of talks. | Lebanese political leaders have agreed on the make-up of a national unity government after six weeks of talks. |
| The Western-backed parliamentary majority is set to control slightly more than half of the cabinet. | The Western-backed parliamentary majority is set to control slightly more than half of the cabinet. |
| Former opposition groups supported by Syria and Iran will meanwhile have enough seats to veto major decisions. | Former opposition groups supported by Syria and Iran will meanwhile have enough seats to veto major decisions. |
| The recently elected President, Michel Suleiman, who is generally seen as a neutral figure, will appoint the key ministers of defence and the interior. | |
| An agreement to form a national unity government was reached in May following and a long period of political paralysis and the worst sectarian violence in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990. | An agreement to form a national unity government was reached in May following and a long period of political paralysis and the worst sectarian violence in Lebanon since the end of the civil war in 1990. |
| Qatar deal | |
| The presidential decree announcing the formation of the new government finally came after a meeting between the Prime Minister-designate, Fouad Siniora, and Mr Suleiman. | |
| Under the deal mediated by Qatar in May, the opposition was granted 11 of the cabinet's 30 seats - enough to veto major decisions. | |
| The negotiations on the new government have been tortuous, often angry, says the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Beirut, and there has been considerable international pressure on the politicians involved. | |
| They will now have to make even more difficult decisions, our correspondent says. | |
| Perhaps most sensitive will be the status of Hezbollah's weapons. | |
| The Shia movement says that it should keep its guns to protect Lebanon from Israel. Others believe its military wing should, over time, be incorporated into the national army. |