Leaders from across the political spectrum continued discussions on the last item on the agenda of the reconciliation talks launched early March: a defense strategy for Lebanon in the face of a potential threat from Israel.

On the eve of the talks, Speaker Nabih Berri, the organizer of the conference, held talks with Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Vice President Farouk al Sharaa.

Upon his return to Beirut, Berri expressed his desire to remain silent about the result of his talks in the Syrian capital saying only that "things were progressing towards the better."

"This meeting came after a series of Arab contacts all aimed at improving Lebanese-Syrian relations in addition to discussing developments in Palestine and the Arab region," said a statement issued by Berri's office.

Members of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority maintain that any defense strategy should keep decisions to "protect Lebanon" in the hands of the state and regular army.

But pro-Syrian groups, led by Hezbollah, have so far rejected U.N. Security Council demands to disarm and calls from within Lebanon to merge their fighters with the regular army.

Thursday's meeting comes after a heated public debate about Hezbollah's weapons.

Druze leader MP Walid Jumblat, an influential figure of the anti-Syrian camp, recently insisted that the "defense of southern Lebanon should be the sole prerogative of the Lebanese state" and that Hezbollah fighters should be integrated into the armed forces.

But Hezbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said only a paramilitary structure like his group's military wing -- which he claims has more than 12,000 rockets -- could protect Lebanon from mighty neighbor Israel.

Hezbollah, which succeeded in driving Israel out of Lebanon in 2000 ending 22 years of occupation, often clashes with the Jewish state along the volatile border, particularly in the Shabaa Farms area that the group is seeking to liberate from Israeli occupation.

The disputed border region was seized by Israel in 1967 when it occupied the Syrian Golan Heights. The U.N. says Shabaa belongs to Syria while Beirut and Damascus argue it is Lebanese.

The government, based on an agreement at the dialogue talks, is seeking an official delineation of the border with Syria to prove the Lebanese identity of Shabaa. However, Syria refuses to do so before an Israeli pullout.

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora has been seeking to visit Damascus to discuss this issue as well as other agreements reached at the talks that require Syria's cooperation. They include the normalization of relations between the two countries and dismantling of remaining Palestinian militant bases in Lebanon.

Several attempts at setting an appointment for Saniora with the Syrian leadership have failed.

The participants in the roundtable discussions that started on March 2, have also agreed on an international tribunal to try former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's murderers

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