BEIRUT, LEBANON - Hezbollah and its allies solidified their hold on Lebanon's government Friday with the formation of a national unity Cabinet that gives them veto power over government decisions.

Still, the Western-backed parliamentary majority managed to deny the Hezbollah-led opposition the most important Cabinet positions, except for the one it had already held -- foreign affairs.

The Cabinet's formation ends six weeks of wrangling over how to distribute the posts and is another step toward healing the country's deep political divide.

The unity government is the outcome of a deal brokered by the Arab League in May under which the opposition agreed to rejoin the government after its rivals gave in to demands to have a final say over all government decisions. That deal came after Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants and allied gunmen fanned out across Lebanon's capital in May, clashing with government supporters. The violence killed at least 81 people and brought the country to the brink of another civil war.

"We have decided to manage our disputes through democratic institutions and dialogue, and not through force and intimidation," Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told reporters at the presidential palace in suburban Beirut after names of the new Cabinet ministers were announced. But Lebanon's problems "will not cease to exist overnight," he added.

In the new Cabinet, the parliamentary majority holds 16 seats; the opposition gets 11. Three others were distributed by the president.

Both the parliamentary majority and the opposition made concessions that cleared the way for the Cabinet's formation. The opposition dropped demands to take two of the four key ministerial portfolios: defense, interior, finance and foreign affairs.

In Washington, the State Department praised the creation of the new government as a critical step in restoring democracy to Lebanon. But the department said that, as in the past, it would not have contact with Cabinet members who belong to Hezbollah.

Hezbollah's ascendancy is a setback for the U.S., which had strongly backed the outgoing Lebanese government and is concerned that Iran's influence is spreading in the Middle East.

The Cabinet is divided equally between Christians and Muslims in accordance with Lebanon's sectarian political system.

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