Lebanon's rival leaders have held talks in Qatar to try to end a political conflict that has pushed their country to the brink of a new civil war.
Government and opposition leaders left the conference room at a Doha hotel separately after 90 minutes of talks chaired by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani.
But rival delegates said they agreed to form a four-member committee that would lay the framework for a new election law and, once that is achieved, move on to one of the most divisive issues on the agenda, the framework of the government.
Talks will resume later today to try to move toward a deal to end a political standoff that has paralysed government for 18 months and left Lebanon with no president since November.
Power sharing in a new government and the basis of an election law are among the main issues on the agenda but the ruling coalition will demand that Hezbollah's weapons and ties with the state will be discussed after the anti-Israel group turned its arms against its political rivals.
On Thursday, Arab mediators reached a deal to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting in nearly two decades and create a framework for the talks hosted by Qatar.
The clashes killed 81 people and exacerbated sectarian tensions between Shias loyal to the Iranian-backed group and Druze and Sunni followers of the US-supported ruling coalition.
Distrust between the two sides has been running high for months and diplomats said the main challenge for the hosts was to rebuild confidence between the rivals.
There has been no deadline set for the talks but diplomats said if no understanding was reached over the next two to three days, then an agreement might prove elusive.
The opposition has demanded more say in a cabinet controlled by factions opposed to Syrian influence in Lebanon. Syria, which backs the opposition and is an ally of Iran, said it supported the Qatari-led Arab League initiative.
A deal would lead to the election of army commander General Michel Suleiman as president.
Both sides have long accepted his nomination for a post reserved for a Maronite Christian in Lebanon's sectarian power-sharing system.
