Arab foreign ministers, holding an emergency session today, will send a high-level delegation to Beirut immediately to try to mediate a way out of Lebanon's worst civil strife in 18 years, the Arab League said.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani will head the delegation, the Cairo-based organisation said in a statement. It did not name the other members of the mission.
Fifty-three people have been killed and at least 150 wounded in the fighting that erupted when the Iranian- and Syrian- backed Hezbollah briefly seized control of Beirut after the pro-Western government's decision to target its military communications network.
Tensions eased in Beirut on Sunday after Hezbollah fighters pulled back from areas they had seized in the western half of the capital. But violence later spread to the mountains east of Beirut between Hezbollah fighters and supporters of the pro-government Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.
The Arab League statement invited leaders of the opposition, including Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, as well as the main pillars of the government coalition, including Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri, for talks with the delegation.
The talks would aim to "draw an urgent roadmap" to carry out an Arab League initiative that calls for electing army chief Michel Suleiman as president, forming a national unity cabinet and formulating a new electoral law, the statement added.
Lebanon has been mired in a political deadlock for 18 months over opposition demands for a greater say in government.
Moussa has tried for months without much success to mediate a way out of the crisis.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, whose country is a main ally of Hezbollah, was not present at the meeting.
Syria, which was forced to withdraw troops from Lebanon after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, would not favour a meeting that is likely to condemn the actions of Hezbollah.
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, both supporters of the Lebanese government, had called the meeting.
In remarks carried by Egyptian state news agency MENA, Hesham Youssef, Moussa's chief of staff, said the Arab League wanted a "formula to ensure the integrity of the Lebanese people and the safety and security of Lebanon".