BEIRUT: Rival Lebanese leaders flew to Qatar on Friday aiming to end a protracted political conflict that has pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war.

One of the most influential members of the US-backed ruling coalition, which was dealt a military blow by Hezbollah in six days of fighting, called for concessions to avoid more conflict.

“Let us deal with matters calmly at the dialogue table. Each one of us and them must offer concessions to bury strife,” Walid Jumblatt said during a tour of Druze villages where his followers this week battled the Iranian-backed Shia group Hizbullah.

“We are going to the dialogue with a great political wound,” said Jumblatt, who later flew to Doha in a Qatar Airways plane along with both his allies and rivals. Arab mediators, led by the Qatari prime minister, concluded a deal on Thursday to end the fighting which killed 81 people and exacerbated sectarian tensions between Shia loyal to Hizbullah and Druze and Sunni followers of the ruling coalition.

Qatar invited the rivals to Doha for talks to end a broader political standoff that has paralysed government for 18 months and left Lebanon without a president since November. “We are going to Doha .... to come back, God willing, with an agreement that will allow Lebanese to look forward, benefiting from the past and its bitter experience,” Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said before leaving for Qatar.

Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani will host a dinner for participants at 9.00 pm (1800 GMT) and the talks will start in earnest on Saturday, political sources said.

Syria, which backs the opposition and is an ally of Iran, said it supported the Qatari-led Arab League initiative.

“This step could be a real chance to save Lebanon from the dangers that threaten it,” Syria’s Foreign Minister Walidal-Moualem told the Lebanese as-Safir newspaper. “We are absolutely with the initiative.”