Arab mediators on Tuesday gave Lebanon’s Hizbollah-led opposition until Wednesday to sign up to proposals to defuse a crisis that drove the country close to civil war.

After four days of tense negotiations in Doha, led by Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani, Qatari prime minister, the pro-western governing coalition said it had accepted a proposed Arab League deal to end an 18-month political standoff and pave the way for the election of Michel Suleiman, Lebanon’s army chief, as president.