BEIRUT--The Lebanese parliament elected former army commander Michel Aoun as president on Monday, ending a 29-month presidential vacuum in a political deal that secured victory for his Lebanese Shi'ite ally Hezbollah, Iran and Syria.
Sunni leader Saad al-Hariri, an opponent of Hezbollah and its allies, is set to be named prime minister in the deal that marked a concession on his part and highlighted the diminished role played in Lebanon by his regional patron, Saudi Arabia.
Fireworks echoed across Beirut as the tally of votes cast by lawmakers showed Aoun the winner. It marked the first time since the end of 1975-90 civil war that a Maronite Christian leader with a popular support base was elected to the post reserved for the sect under the sectarian system of government.
Aoun, who is in his 80s, had no real challengers for the position he has long coveted. Suleiman Franjieh, another Hezbollah ally and the only other official candidate, had asked his supporters to cast blank ballots instead of voting for him.
Aoun is best known for fighting two ruinous wars at the end of the civil war, one against Syrian troops in Lebanon and the other against a rival Christian leader. He struck his alliance with Hezbollah a decade ago after returning from exile in France after the departure of Syrian forces in 2005.
At his swearing-in in the Beirut parliament building, Aoun said Lebanon must be protected from "regional fires" - a reference to the conflict in neighbouring Syria where Hezbollah is fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
He also promised a preemptive fight against terrorism, in reference to Sunni Muslim jihadists, who have staged suicide attacks against Shi'ite targets and the army in Lebanon, and said camps hosting some 1.5 million Syrian refugees must not become militant hideouts.
But Aoun made no mention of some of the most divisive issues facing Lebanon: Hezbollah's arsenal and Lebanon's position on the war in Syria, where the government's official stance has been one of "disassociation". Ali Akbar Velayati, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's top adviser on international affairs, said it was a victory for Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Tasnim news agency reported.
The United States said it was "a moment of opportunity, as Lebanon emerges from years of political impasse."
A statement from the State Department said Lebanese parties must also uphold international obligations, including U.N. Security Council resolutions which say there must be no authority in Lebanon other than that of the government - a reference to Hezbollah.
