This country’s political chiefs resumed a grueling dialogue to forge a compromise over a host of issues that have paralysed the government and led to sectarian polarisation not seen since the 1975-90 civil war.

The 14 Christian and Muslim leaders began the conference on March 2, but adjourned five days later amid sharp differences, mainly over the fate of the pro-Syrian president and the UN call for disarmament of the militant group Hizbullah. Although talks resumed Monday, they were adjourned again Tuesday for another week to allow participants more time for consultations. The divisions reflect the broader rifts emerging in the Middle East, pitting an alliance of Iran and Syria and their allies against the regional ambitions of the US and its European allies such as Britain and France. “The Lebanese dialogue is a background for clashing agendas: Iran and Syria on one hand and the US and France on the other,” says Amal Saad-Ghorayeb, assistant professor of politics at the Lebanese American University.

Among the participants is the Shiite Hizbullah organisation, which forms a key component of the emerging anti-Western axis, grouping its patron Iran, strategic ally Syria, and militant Iraqi and Palestinian groups. Hizbullah spearheads opposition to Western influence here, which has grown since Syria withdrew its troops from Lebanon last April.

On the other side of the table are anti-Syrian Christian, Druze, and Sunni politicians who welcome the support of the US and France in eradicating the last vestiges of Syrian influence in Lebanon. They view Hizbullah’s weapons and continuing ties to Damascus with unease.

This pattern of Lebanese sects seeking powerful foreign patrons to advance their domestic interests has a long history in Lebanon where no one group is large enough to dominate others. And the country’s religious and political diversity has made it a convenient arena for regional and international powers to pursue their strategic agendas and wage their political battles via Lebanese proxies.

Foreign involvement has reached unprecedented levels since the Syrian troop withdrawal last year. Syria and Iran continue to project influence through Hizbullah. Regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Egypt have attempted to mediate a rapprochement between Beirut and Damascus.

Following talks on Lebanon in Moscow Monday with Russian and Syrian officials, UN envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, described the dialogue as a “momentous event in Lebanese history: the first ever such dialogue without foreign interference or facilitation.”

The fate of Hizbullah’s armed wing is the thorniest subject up for debate at the conference. Others include the future of Lebanon’s pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud, normalising Leba-nese-Syrian relations, regulating armed Palestinian groups on Lebanese soil, and confirming the sovereignty of the Shebaa Farms, a remote Israeli-occupied mountainside along Leba-non’s southeast border where Hizbullah fighters battle Israeli troops.

Rival leaders reportedly made some progress Monday on the Shebaa farms issue and on working toward establishing full diplomatic ties with Syria and disarming Palestinian militants outside the country’s 12 refugee camps. Lebanese leaders insist that failure is not an option. — The Christian Science Monitor