The two-day close-door meeting of Lebanon's 14 rival political factions came to an end on Sunday in a chateau in west suburbs of French capital, reaching an agreement to continue the dialogue and give up violence.
During a press conference following the meeting, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, initiator and president of the meeting, said that the inter-Lebanese dialogue had been "energized", affirming that the tense atmosphere in the beginning of the meeting had become "amicable" in the end.
"The participants write down their agreement solemnly that they will not continue violence for political purpose," Kouchner said.
He also announced that he would pay a visit to Lebanon to evaluate the "progress of the dialogue."
Representatives of various Lebanese parties, including Shi'ite group Hezbollah, participated the conference, which was an informal meeting, a dialogue among the Lebanese, not a regional or international meeting on Lebanon, according to the minister.
The two-day close-door meeting which began on Saturday at the Chateau de Celle-Saint Cloud in Paris' west suburb marks the first time that the 14 Lebanese rival parties have converged to seek solution to the political crisis since a national dialogue failed to ease the tension last November.
Lebanon is facing its most serious political crisis since the end of the 1975-1990 civil war, with the government led by Prime Minister Fouad Seniora and the Hezbollah-led opposition locked in a fierce power struggle.
In mid-November last year, six opposition ministers quit the cabinet after Seniora refused to give the opposition alliance more power in the cabinet.
The opposition then declared the cabinet illegitimate, demanding early parliamentary elections and a new electoral law.
The Seniora government has rejected such calls and accused Hezbollah of trying to obstruct the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of ex-premier Rafik Hariri.
Source: Xinhua
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