BEIRUT (AFP) -- Lebanon was brimming with a new sense of optimism and amid hopes a deal between rival factions that pulled the nation back from the brink of civil war would be more than just a temporary reprieve.

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As life returned to downtown Beirut after the end of a crippling 18-month opposition protest, newspapers hailed the beginning of a new era in the deeply divided country following the agreement signed in Doha on Wednesday.
""Lebanon emerges from the standoff... and Beirut comes back to life,"" cried the headline in the pro-opposition newspaper As-Safir.
""The Doha accord opens the door for a new phase... Lebanese relieved and the Arabs satisfied,"" added Al-Mustaqbal, a newspaper owned by the family of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri.
The Doha accord will see army chief Michel Sleiman elected as president on Sunday, a 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 largely Sunni-led Western backed government was greeted with relief by the Lebanese, weary of years of conflict and political turmoil.
Many people flocked to downtown Beirut to witness the lifting of an 18-month sit-in against the Sunni-led government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora that had crippled business in the area.
Cleaning crews were out in force removing the few remaining tents and debris as restaurants, nightclubs and cafes frantically prepared to reclaim their status as the capital's hot-spots.
Wednesday's deal followed six days of Arab-mediated crisis talks called to resolve a bitter feud that boiled over into sectarian fighting that killed 65 people -- the worst unrest since the 1975-1990 civil war.
""Obviously this is a compromise between the government and the opposition, a settlement, not a solution,"" was the assessment of political analyst Amal Saad-Ghorayeb.
The crisis first erupted in November 2006 when six pro-Syrian ministers quit the Siniora cabinet. It degenerated into street battles in early May, with fighters from Hezbollah and its allies temporarily seizing control of large swathes of west Beirut from their Sunni rivals.
“The opposition got what it wanted most -- a blocking minority,"" said An-Nahar, which is close to the ruling majority.
""But the majority also got its main demand for parties not to resort to the use of weapons and for a dialogue to be launched on the relation of the Lebanese state with various parties.""
Added As-Safir: ""No one comes out of this a winner or vanquished.""
Hilal Khashan, a professor at the American University of Beirut, begged to differ.
""If you look at the terms of the agreement it was clear that Hezbollah and the rest of the opposition emerged as victorious. They were able to get what they could not get previously.""
The pro-government French-language L'Orient Le Jour noted that the Lebanese want to believe that a new page had been turned after fears the country could descend into another civil war.
Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East centre office in Beirut, called the opposition's securing a veto a setback for the government.
Washington, a staunch backer of the ruling majority, welcomed the Doha deal while acknowledging Hezbollah's gains, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying it was a ""positive step.""
Parliament speaker and opposition stalwart Nabih Berri said in a statement that Sleiman's election would take place on Sunday at 5:00 pm (1400 GMT).