Lebanon army chief Aoun becomes president after two-year vacancy

Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacancy and marking a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial meltdown.

Parliament speaker Nabih Berri declared Aoun president after 99 out of 128 lawmakers voted in his favour. Aoun is the fifth army commander to become Lebanon's president, and the fourth in a row.

Aoun faces the tasks of overseeing a fragile ceasefire in south Lebanon and naming a prime minister capable of implementing the reforms demanded by international creditors in return for a desperately needed bailout.

He said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister. Lebanon's constitution does not allow presidential candidates who have held high office in the previous two years.