BEIRUT, Lebanon - Two key opponents in Lebanon's political crisis, who met overnight in an effort to end the standoff, said on Friday that their talks had been positive and promised to continue their efforts.

A joint statement from pro-Syrian parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri and Saad Hariri, leader of the anti-Damascus legislative majority, said the meeting was "positive and identified points of convergence that require further consultation and discussions between the two parties."

The two men agreed to "continue their consultations very soon."

Their talks, which started late on Thursday, were the first between the two men since the crisis erupted in November, when six pro-Syrian ministers resigned from the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The government has been paralysed since then, with the Shi'a Muslim party Hezbollah mounting a campaign to oust the cabinet of the Western-backed premier.

The crisis brought opposing camps out into the streets in January where running battles took place.

Meanwhile, a government official told AFP on Friday that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose country is a staunch backer of Hezbollah, was expected in Beirut later in the day.

Just last week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Saudi King Abdullah in talks that included reference to the crisis in Lebanon, where both countries wield influence. They reportedly agreed on a comprehensive solution to the two main problems there.

These are the opposition demand for veto in the government and the ratification of an international tribunal to try suspects in the 2005 murder of Saad Hariri's father, former premier Rafiq Hariri.

The younger Hariri said a few days before that meeting that "there have been efforts by Saudi Arabia and Iran to get the crisis in Lebanon resolved.

"Saudi Arabia knows the politics of Lebanon. Iran has a role because of its involvement with Hezbollah. So hopefully there is a kind of discussion that is ongoing now in finding an end to this crisis."

But he added: "I believe that the main problem today is the Syrian regime who is trying to stop this agreement to happen."

The Thursday night talks followed meetings Hariri held with Siniora, former president Amin Gemayel and Maronite Christian Patriarch Nasrallah Sfeir, local media reported.

According to the Daily Star newspaper, Hariri said before meeting Berri that the "important thing is to solve this crisis that the country is passing through. True, each (side) is sticking to their position, but Speaker Berri is optimistic. I am optimistic."

The political feuding has arisen in part over the Siniora government backing for a UN tribunal to try suspects in the murder of Hariri's father, a move opposed by Syria and its allies in Lebanon.

An ongoing UN investigation has issued preliminary findings linking figures in the Syrian regime, and Lebanese allies, to Hariri's murder. Damascus has consistently denied any involvement.

After meeting Sfeir, Hariri said he assured the patriarch that his political movement "wants the international tribunal to be established in accordance with the constitution."

"Hindering the tribunal would give licence to the killer to continue killing," the Daily Star quoted him as saying. -AFP