Lebanon prepares to elect its president in pictures
Posted by tearsforlebanon on May 24, 2008
a six-month delay amid hopes that the appointment will bring unity and
stability to the politically-deadlocked country.
Some 127 MPs were poised to elect army commander General Michel
Suleiman, 59, as president on Sunday at a parliamentary session that
would be attended by 200 dignitaries, among them the foreign ministers
of Syria and Iran as well as a US congressional delegation.
Other foreign dignitaries expected to attend included Qatar’s emir,
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the foreign ministers of France,
Italy and Spain, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, Arab League
Secretary General Amr Mussa, as well as foreign and Arab ambassadors in
Lebanon.
The streets were full of red and white Lebanese flags as well as pictures of the incoming president.
“Lebanon awaits the leader” said a placard with a large picture of the new president.
In Amsheet, 40 kilometres north of Beirut, and the hometown of the
new president, red and white balloons floated over the streets and
pictures of the new president were on every balcony.
“Amsheet is awaiting the election of its son as president to unite
Lebanon and help Lebanon pass on to a new phase of stability and
peace,” said Nazem al Khoury, a close friend of the president.
The family house of the future president was also covered with his pictures and Lebanese flags.
People on the streets on Amsheet expressed their happiness and said
” Amsheet is awaiting Sunday with love and festivities to welcome the
new president.”
Qatari mediation during talks in Doha brokered a deal on Wednesday
which ended Lebanon political crisis. Earlier this month the standoff
degenerated into violence, killing 82 people and pushing Lebanon to the
brink of another civil war.
Residents of the Lebanese village of Amsheet, home to army Commander
Michel Suleiman, celebrate a political agreement that will see him
appointed as President, May 21, 2008
Lebanese school children hold flags and a poster of army Commander
Michel Suleiman in his village of Amsheet during celebrations after an
agreement that will see him appointed as President, May 21, 2008
A photo of Lebanese Army General Michel Suleiman is plastered on a wall in Beirut on May 22.
Lebanese workers hang a poster of army chief General Michel Sleiman in his hometown of Amsheet, in northern Lebanon.
A portrait of Lebanese army commander Gen. Michel Suleiman, who is due
to be elected as the country’s new president on Sunday, is seen hanging
from a road sign in the Hazmiyeh area of Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, May
23, 2008
