Lebanon swore in a new president after being without a head of state for six months.
Michel Suleiman was sworn in Monday the day after the former army chief was chosen by parliament to replace pro-Syrian politician Emile Lahoud, who stepped down in November.
The parliament’s majority will now choose a prime minister to lead a new Cabinet. The Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah is the government’s official opposition and has veto power over the selection.
Assassinations and skirmishes in the past year and a half have put Lebanon on the brink of another civil war, which it suffered from 1975 to 1990. Israel fought Hezbollah forces in the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.
