BEIRUT (AFP) - Arab diplomats struggled on Tuesday to bridge Lebanon's political divide, as the government forged ahead with its approval of a controversial UN tribunal after 12 days of Hezbollah-led street protests.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa arrived in Beirut for more negotiations with the feuding camps, whose priorities for ending the deadlock were emerging at opposite ends of the spectrum.

"There is hope... but we are only beginning," Mussa said after a first round of talks with Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and pro-Syrian parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

The government and its anti-Syrian parliament majority has urged an early election by MPs to replace pro-Damascus President Emile Lahoud, but the opposition first wants the cabinet replaced with a new national unity government. Siniora has stayed silent on the talks, while Hezbollah has said it viewed in a "positive light" any initiative that aims to install a unity government giving it a "blocking one-third minority."

The opposition has staged mass rallies around the government's offices in central Beirut since December 1, and warned it will set up its own interim government in the coming days if its demands are not met.

Meanwhile, the rump cabinet left after six pro-Syrian ministers resigned last month sent to parliament its nod to a UN text on creating an international court to try suspects in the 2005 slaying of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri.

The creation of such a court is a key issue in the political wrangling that has seen Hezbollah demand a greater say in government, while the majority accuses the movement of seeking to block a court that could try their Syrian allies.

Communications Minister Marwan Hamadeh told AFP the remaining ministers "unanimously decided" to send the UN draft on creating an international court to parliament, after already giving it preliminary approval last month.

"This shows Lahoud and his Syrian allies who want to destabilize Lebanon that the government is moving forward on its path," Hamadeh said.

Lahoud has rejected the proposal, saying the cabinet that approved it was illegitimate. Berri has refused to convene any parliamentary session until the current crisis is resolved.

An ongoing UN probe into the bomb blast that killed Hariri and 22 others in February 2005 has implicated senior officials from Syria, which for decades was the powerbroker in its smaller neighbor, and also Lebanese accomplices.

Damascus has denied any involvement in the killing.

An interim report turned over to outgoing UN chief Kofi Annan on Tuesday said Syria was continuing to provide satisfactory help to the probe.

In addition to the Hariri court, sticking points between the political factions include the prospect of early elections, forming a unity government and an international aid conference for the war-battered country.

Mussa, who arrived one day after his envoy Mustafa Ismail, denied that there was any specific Arab initiative on the table and said he was bringing "ideas" amid pessimism from both camps over the Arab League efforts succeeding.

Former president Amin Gemayel, whose son Pierre was industry minister and a member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority when he was assassinated last month, criticized the opposition's demands.

"At no time can we allow a dictatorship of the minority," he said.

Meanwhile, Druze chief and anti-Syrian MP Walid Jumblatt accused Hezbollah of "taking the country to civil war" and described the protests as "an attack on democratic life," An-Nahar daily said.

Hezbollah minister Trad Hamadeh, who resigned last month, said "it's the majority who rejects all initiatives because it wants to continue to govern on its own in violation of the constitution."