Lebanese President Joseph Aoun began consultations with lawmakers on Monday to designate a prime minister in what political sources saw as a tight race between incumbent Najib Mikati and International Court of Justice President Nawaf Salam.

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.

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

The election of army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun garnered rare consensus among the Lebanese, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the first presidential election for Lebanon following the fall of the Assad regime.

General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander who was elected president on Thursday, kept his military on the sidelines of a recent war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, ordering it to prioritise civil peace even as troops were killed.

The visit by Prime Minister Najib Mikati was the first official trip by the Lebanese leader to meet with the new government of Syria.

New Lebanese President Joseph Aoun will begin parliamentary consultations Monday over designating a prime minister to form a government that will have to face major challenges in the crisis-hit country.

Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun has begun binding consultations with the country's 128 MPs over who to designate as the next prime minister. The new prime minister will be tasked with steering Lebanon through several challenges,