BEIRUT, Lebanon - Lebanon's unity Cabinet unanimously adopted a statement laying out its goals Monday, clearing the way for parliament to vote on seating a new government that includes the country's bitterly divided pro-Western and pro-Syrian factions.

The new government was formed in a compromise aimed at ending a monthslong paralyzing political deadlock that led to bloody street battles in May, during which Hezbollah and its allies routed supporters of parliament's pro-Western majority.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri said all 30 members of the compromise Cabinet endorsed the draft policy statement, which outlines what the new government hopes to accomplish before elections next May, including plans to boost the economy and strengthen security forces.

The statement includes a provision indicating the Islamic militant group Hezbollah can keep its weapons. With Hezbollah holding a veto in the new Cabinet, both sides agreed on the vaguely worded provision Friday.

Parliament will now debate the policy statement before holding a vote of confidence on the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, probably later this week. The Cabinet is widely expected to win the vote because it has representatives from both sides of political divide.

Hezbollah's weapons have long been a point of dispute in Lebanon, with many legislators in the Western-backed majority wanting to disarm the group. Hezbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, has rejected that demand.

The policy statement says it is "the right of Lebanon's people, the army and the resistance to liberate all its territories." Lebanese use "resistance" to refer to Hezbollah, which is admired by many for its stand against Israel. "All territories" alludes to Lebanon's territorial claim on the Chebaa Farms area that Israel captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast war.

Lebanon's new cabinet was formed on July 11, but negotiations on a manifesto were hampered by disputes on the key issue of the arms of Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite Muslim political movement and militia.

The Hezbollah-led opposition insisted on the "right to resist" Israel, while the ruling bloc, which is supported by the West and most Arab states, insisted that only the state can make decisions on war and peace.

Mitri said that four ministers had expressed reservations over the clause related to "resistance against Israel."

The manifesto, he added, insists on "the right of Lebanon, its people, its army and its resistance to liberate its land in the Shebaa Farms, Kfarshuba Hill and Ghajar" which are occupied by Israel.

It stresses that the "the unity and the authority of the state would be the guiding principle of all government decisions and actions."

The controversy in Lebanon over Hezbollah's weapons intensified after its militants captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid in July 2006 that sparked a devastating 34-day war.

It boiled over again when Hezbollah led an armed takeover of large swathes of predominantly Sunni west Beirut in fierce fighting in May that left 65 people dead and sparked fears of a return to all-out civil war.

The new cabinet, in which the opposition has the right of veto, was formed after weeks of bickering despite a May power-sharing agreement struck in Qatar that ended a protracted political dispute.

The committee that drafted the new government manifesto comprised ministers from the parliamentary majority as well as ministers from a Syria- and Iran-backed coalition.

The Western-backed parliamentary majority has 16 seats in the new cabinet and the opposition 11, including the post of labour minister which is held by a Hezbollah MP.

Three portfolios are held by nominees of President Sleiman who is considered to be neutral.

After Lebanon's 1975-90 civil war, militias were ordered to disarm, but Hezbollah fighters were allowed to keep their weapons because they were considered a resistance group fighting Israeli troops that occupied part of southern Lebanon until 2000. -With Agencies