Beirut  - An atmosphere of hope for the future prevailed in Lebanon Thursday, a day after rival leaders brokered a deal in Qatar that lifted the country from the verge of collapse and the threat of a new civil war.

"We can now look for a brighter future," said political analyst George Nassif.

Beirut media and newspaper also reflected the atmosphere of relief. "Beirut comes back to life," read the headline in the pro- opposition As-Safir newspaper.

"The Doha accord opens the door for a new phase ... Lebanese relieved ...," said Al-Mustaqbal, a newspaper owned by the family of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.

The Doha agreement has paved the way for army chief Michel Suleiman to be elected president on Sunday, the formation of a national unity government in which the opposition has veto power and a new electoral law for next year's parliamentary election.

The deal between the mainly Shiite Hezbollah-led opposition and the Sunni-led Western-backed government was greeted with sighs of relief by most Lebanese who for the past two weeks thought their country was heading to war.

Tension between the opposition and the majority turned violent on May 7, with 82 people killed in fierce clashes.

The so-called Doha deal also led to the lifting of the 18-month sit-in by the opposition in downtown.

Many people have flocked to downtown Beirut to witness the lifting of the sit-in protest which has blocked major roads in the area and prompted many shops in the area to run out of business.

Early Thursday, people were sitting in side-walk cafes drinking coffee and reading newspapers. Some of the cafes had been closed since the opposition started protests against the Sunni-led government of Prime Minister Fouad Seniora on December 1, 2006.

Cleaning crews were out in force, removing the few remaining tents and debris as nightclubs and restaurant owners in the area were preparing to re-open.

Wednesday's deal followed six days of Arab-mediated crisis talks called to resolve the bitter feud that boiled over into sectarian fighting.

The crisis between the opposition-led by Hezbollah and the Western-backed government first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the Seniora cabinet. The situation degenerated into street battles in early May, with fighters from Hezbollah and its allies seizing control of large parts of west Beirut from their Sunni rivals.

Observers believe that the Doha deal, although it gave the Syrian- and Iranian-backed opposition veto power in the new government, did not represent an all-out victory for one side or the other.

"No one comes out of this a winner or vanquished," the As-Safir said Thursday.

For most Lebanese the winner in the Doha deal was Lebanon.

"The winner is Lebanon ... and we have guaranteed this country a nice summer, with beaches and hotels full of foreign and Arab tourists," said hotel syndicate head Pierre Askhar. (dpa)