Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
May 24, 2008

Lebanese Lawmakers Set to Elect New President 
----------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=1C63D68:A6F02AD83191E1603E72285EF6742A5530EB2FA2E66CBB22& 
Parliament to convene Sunday to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman 
Lebanese lawmakers plan to elect the country's new president Sunday, the first step toward defusing an 18-month political conflict between rival factions.







Giant poster of Michel Suleiman hangs on building in Beirut, 24 May 2008Parliament is set to convene Sunday to elect army commander General Michel Suleiman. He will fill a post that has been empty since November. 

The election was made possible by a deal reached this week between Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.

The deal also calls for the creation of a unity government, which gives the opposition veto power and does not require the militant group Hezbollah to disarm.

Arab League-mediated talks led to the deal, after fighting between Hezbollah gunmen and government supporters in and around Beirut put the country on the brink of civil war. At least 67 people were killed.

Lebanon has been without a head of state since the term of pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud expired in November.

Nineteen parliamentary sessions to elect a new president were later postponed, as the Western-backed ruling coalition and pro-Syrian opposition clashed in a political stalemate. They agreed on the election of Suleiman as president but differed on the composition of a new government. 

The deadlock plunged Lebanon into a political crisis. The country has long been trying to recover from a 15-year civil war that ended in 1990.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.



.