The agreement to end the strike was reached late Friday, during an emergency meeting between members of the Brazilian cabinet and unions representing the controllers, according Normando Cavalcante, an attorney representing the controllers.

 Under the accord, the government agreed to suspend planned transfers of striking workers from the airport of Brasilia, the capital, to other parts of the country, and begin talks about increasing worker salaries and "demilitarizing" the industry.

 The Brazilian military exercises significant control over traffic in the country's airspace, and most air traffic controllers technically work for it.

 The negotiations took place while Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was out of the country, visiting the United States, where he is scheduled to meet Saturday with President George W. Bush.

 But according to the report, Lula had called top defence and airline industry officials and urged them to step back from a confrontation with the strikers.

 The conflict reached a boiling point earlier Friday when the state airports management agency Infraero cancelled all takeoffs across the country of 190 million, and said that the only operations allowed were the landings of planes already in flight.

 Controllers threatened to go on a hunger strike and stop work to press their demands.

 When some started following through, authorities demanded the controllers get back to work or face penalties.

 Eighteen controllers were ordered arrested for having walked off the job and holed up at their workplaces, Globo television reported.

 Airport waiting areas were jammed with thousands of people, many desperate and confused by the situation.

 The frustration was the most evident in the biggest cities: at Congonhas and Guarulhos airports in Sao Paulo, and the Rio de Janeiro airports as well.

 Among the most affected, most heavily trafficked are the airports controlled by the Cindacta-1 control centre in Brasilia.

 It is in charge of flights in the states of Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Goias, Brasilia, southern Tocantins and Mato Grosso.

 In Lula's absence, Vice President Jose Alencar urgently returned to the capital from the southeastern state of Belo Horizonte, which he was visiting, saying that "the situation went beyond the acceptable limits."

 Defense Minister Waldir Pires had told reporters that while he recognized the right of air traffic controllers to fight for better working conditions, it was also important to think about other Brazilians affected by the labor conflict.

 "We cannot make anybody hostage of the current situation," Pires said without specifying what measure the military could take. "We have to address the interests of the Brazilian nation as a whole."

 Brazil's air transport system has been in crisis for six months, since controllers started working to rule to demand more be hired and to demand that the entire flight management system be upgraded after the worst air tragedy in Brazilian history last September, when a Gol airlines Boeing 737 collided with a private jet and plunged to the ground, killing 154 people.

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  Brazil-aviation-strike AFP 310615 GMT MAR 07