Lebanon parliament elects army chief Joseph Aoun as president 

Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun has been elected as the country’s president after a second round of parliamentary voting, breaking a deadlock that has left the country without a head of state since October 2022.

Aoun secured 99 votes from the 128-seat parliament to win the presidency on Thursday afternoon. He only needed a simple parliamentary majority of 65 votes in the second round.

Members of parliament erupted in celebration as Aoun reached the number of votes required to be elected.

Earlier in the day, he fell short of the two-thirds majority in the first round of voting.

During the first round, he received support from 71 parliament members, 15 short of the required 86 votes.

The Mediterranean country has been without a president since the term of Michel Aoun – not related – ended in October 2022.

Tensions between Hezbollah movement and its opponents scuppered a dozen previous votes.

But international pressure has mounted for a successful outcome with just 17 days remaining in a ceasefire to deploy Lebanese troops alongside UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon after a Hezbollah-Israel war last autumn.

More to come…