BEIRUT - Lebanon's new president Michel Sleiman prepared for his first full day in office Monday after hearing his appeal for unity in the violence-hit country endorsed on all sides by the international community.
"Let us unite... and work towards a solid reconciliation," the 59-year-old former army chief said after being sworn in following his election by parliament on Sunday.
n, including Beirut and Sleiman's home town of Amsheet.

By Tom Perry BEIRUT (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament elected army chief Michel Suleiman as head of state on Sunday, reviving paralysed state institutions after an 18-month standoff between a U.S.-backed government and the Hezbollah-led opposition.
Celebratory gunfire erupted in Beirut after Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri declared that Suleiman, the sole candidate, had won by securing 118 votes in the 128-member assembly.
resolutions that call for Hezbollah to be disarmed.

AMCHIT, LEBANON - For a few rare hours Sunday, people here set aside their bitter differences and turned out in the village square to celebrate as one of their own was elected and sworn in as president of Lebanon.
They watched on a giant screen as parliamentarians gathered in Beirut for the first time since 2006 to elect General Michel Suleiman, filling a post that had been vacant for six months and giving people here new – if tenuous – hope that Lebanon has averted what they fear the most: a return to factional civil war.
entual integration of Hezbollah's guerrillas into Lebanese security forces. Hezbollah has rejected any move to force it to lay down its weapons, which it says are needed to deter an Israeli attack.

Less than two weeks after the country teetered on the brink of civil war, Lebanon has a new President and some hope for a more stable political future.
General Michael Suleiman, the head of Lebanon's army for ten years, is now Lebanon's head of state and says it is a new beginning for his country.
nner in the peace deal brokered in Qatar last week after showing its strength in the recent fighting.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanon's parliament elected a new president Sunday, taking a step to stabilize the country after a long, violent political crisis and ushering in a shift in the balance of power in favor of Iranian-backed Hezbollah.
The election of army chief Michel Suleiman brought palpable relief to ordinary Lebanese who feared in recent weeks that their country was in danger of another civil war.
r a new beginning," Suleiman said after he was sworn in. "Let us be united.

The former army chief of staff takes over a country torn between US-Saudi support and Hezbollah. By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer BEIRUT

Lebanon's ex-army chief has been sworn in as the country's president in a step towards defusing an 18-month standoff between rival factions.
Michel Sleiman was elected on Sunday in a parliamentary session attended by foreign dignitaries including Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, who helped broker a deal to end the dispute.
ar horns as crowds of people cheering and waving Lebanese flags poured onto the streets of Beirut and Sleiman's hometown of Amsheet after hearing the news.

By VOA News Lebanon's parliament is set to elect the country's new president Sunday, filling a post left vacant since November by a volatile political

By Laila Bassam BEIRUT, May 25 (Reuters) - Lebanon's parliament is set to vote in army chief General Michel Suleiman as the country's 11th president on Sunday, filling a post left vacant for six months by a crisis that threatened a new civil war.
A Qatari-brokered deal between rival Lebanese leaders last week defused 18 months of political stalemate that erupted into street fighting this month. Iranian-backed Hezbollah fighters briefly seized parts of Beirut, routing government loyalists.
new law for the 2009 general election.