BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday (Jan 9), ending a more than two-year vacancy in a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial crisis.

Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

The new president, Joseph Aoun, is a favorite of America, France, and Saudi Arabia. He even gets a cautious endorsement from Israel amid skepticism

Lebanon lawmakers elected army commander Joseph Aoun as the country’s first president in more than two years, picking a U.S.-backed candidate in a sign of Iran’s waning influence in the region.

Lebanon’s parliament has elected Joseph Aoun, the country’s army chief, as president, ending a two-year political deadlock that left the nation without a head of state. Aoun, 60, secured the presidency after gaining the backing of key political parties and international support from the United States,

A devastating economic crisis, a political power vacuum, massive corruption and most recently the war between Hezbollah and Israel: For a long time, things were not looking good for Lebanon. But, after two years without a president,

Following 13 attempts to elect a president, Lebanon’s parliament has sworn in army commander Joseph Aoun as the head of state. Mr. Aoun is the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia.

Aoun, a 60-year-old career soldier, became the fifth Lebanese army commander to be elected as president in Lebanon's history, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the post. Since taking over the army command in 2017,

After years of gridlock, Lebanon’s parliament elected Aoun, the chief military commander, as president. His win could unlock money for postwar reconstruction.