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Berri summons MPs to presidential election on Sunday
Speaker Nabih Berri on Thursday scheduled a Parliament session to elect the commander of Lebanese Armed Forces General Michel Suleiman as president at 5 p.m. on Sunday, as key Arab and international figures prepared to head to Beirut to attend the session. Among the figures expected to attend are Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Arab League chief Amr Moussa, European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Javier Solana and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.UN Chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were also among the expected guests, according to local media reports. Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader MP Michel Aoun contacted Suleiman on Monday to congratulate him ahead of Sunday's session. "I entrust you with this delicate responsibility," Aoun reportedly told Suleiman, whose election would end a six-month presidential vacuum, making the army commander Lebanon's 12th president. In remarks to the Kuwaiti daily Al-Qabas, Suleiman said that "the Lebanese have finally chosen the path of life." Suleiman thanked Qatar and the Arab League for their efforts to end the Lebanese crisis. Under Qatari and Arab League auspices, rival Lebanese leaders clinched a deal on Wednesday in Doha to end the political feud that had blocked a presidential election and had exploded into deadly clashes earlier this month. Posted by: Fred 2008-05-23 |
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