BEIRUT, 22 May 2008 — Lebanese lawmakers will gather on Sunday to elect army chief Michel Suleiman president following a deal struck to end the country’s long-running political crisis, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Fouad Siniora told AFP yesterday.

“We have been informed by the Parliament speaker’s office that the election will take place on Sunday,” Mohammed Shatah said.

Lebanon’s rival leaders and their regional backers hailed the deal hammered out yesterday, saying they hoped it would pave the way for long-lasting peace in the troubled country.

“We hope this understanding will pave the way for a solution to the political crisis in Lebanon,” said Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem, whose country was for years the power broker in Lebanon and now backs the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The accord, signed in Doha, is the result of crisis talks that began after days of deadly sectarian fighting this month threatened to plunge Lebanon back into all-out civil war.

It paves the way for the creation of a unity government in which the opposition has power of veto, and a ban on the use of weapons in any internal conflict.

Syria’s main regional ally Iran welcomed the agreement. “The Islamic republic of Iran hopes that the Doha accord... will provide a blossoming and brilliant future for the Lebanese people,” the ISNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying.

Saudi Arabia echoed the sentiment. “Saudi Arabia announces its support for the agreement. We are very happy that this accord has been reached,” its ambassador to Lebanon, Abdul Aziz Khoja, told AFP in Riyadh.

Lebanese parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri said the agreement marked a new chapter for the country.

“We have turned a new page which should start with a (national) reconciliation,” he said.

“Wounds are deep and we hope they will heal.”

Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said the deal struck in Doha marked “a happy moment for all the Lebanese.” “Congratulations to the Lebanese people, we did not fail them,” he said.

“They always pressed us to reach an agreement and we have done so.”

Siniora also called on the Qatari hosts of the talks to work to put relations between Lebanon and “sisterly Syria on the right track.” “There is no doubt that what happened should serve as a lesson to renounce violence and pledge not to resort to arms,” he said, referring to the sectarian fighting earlier in May that killed 65 people.

“We should work to equip our security forces with modern equipment ... in order to protect the country and provide security,” Siniora added, calling on Arab countries to help strengthen the Lebanese Army.

Arab League chief Amr Moussa said the deal shows that Lebanon can only thrive on its tradition of consensus.

“We have proved that the historic Lebanese formula of ‘no victor and no vanquished’ is the only formula that can lead us to safe shores,” he said.