Lebanon's new president Michel Sleiman appealed for unity after his election on Sunday, a move hailed as the start of a new era after a bitter political feud threatened to plunge the nation into civil war.
"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. "We have paid dearly for our national unity. Let us preserve it hand-in-hand."
Celebratory shots were fired into the air and fireworks lit up the sky as crowds of people, cheering and waving Lebanese flags, poured into the streets across Lebanon, including Beirut and Sleiman's hometown of Amsheet.
The election was welcomed by the international community led by US President George W. Bush who gave his staunch backing to the Sunni-led government in its 18-month standoff with the mainly Shiite Muslim Hezbollah-led opposition.
Sleiman was elected by 118 votes in a much-delayed parliament session attended by Arab and Western dignitaries that followed a deal hammered out Wednesday in Qatar between the rival Lebanese politicians.
"This is a historic moment," said parliament speaker and opposition stalwart Nabih Berri. "I ask God to help you succeed in steering the Lebanese ship to a safe haven... today no-one in the world can turn Lebanon into a killing field."
Sleiman's main challenge will be to impose himself as a neutral figure and reconcile the Western-backed ruling coalition and the opposition, which is supported by Iran and Syria.
After Sleiman was sworn in, the government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora resigned in line with the constitution but will stay on in a caretaker role.
Bickering between the two camps had left the presidency vacant since pro-Syrian Emile Lahoud's term ended in November. Nineteen previous attempts to get lawmakers together to elect a successor failed.
On Wednesday, the rivals finally agreed to elect Sleiman, form a national unity government in which the opposition has veto power and draft a new electoral law for a parliamentary election due next year.
The accord came after 65 people were killed in street battles this month between Hezbollah and their allies and pro-government forces.
It was the deadliest sectarian violence since the 1975-1990 civil war and which threatened to spiral into all-out conflict after Hezbollah, the most powerful armed group in Lebanon, seized control of mainly Sunni west Beirut.
Sleiman said he would seek friendly relations with Syria, Lebanon's former powerbroker which has been accused by Washington of stoking the crisis.
As president -- a position reserved for a Maronite Christian under Lebanon's multi-confessional system -- Sleiman will have to tread a fine line to keep the neutrality he maintained during 10 years as army chief.
He is the third army leader to become president after Fouad Chehab in 1958-1964 and Lahoud, who was elected in 1998 but whose term was controversially extended by three years under a Syrian-inspired constitutional amendment in 2004.
Bush said he looked forward to "an era of political reconciliation".
"I am confident that Lebanon has chosen a leader committed to protecting its sovereignty, extending the government's authority over all of Lebanon, and upholding Lebanon's international obligations under UN Security Council resolutions."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed hope the vote will lead to the "revitalisation of all of Lebanon's constitutional institutions and a return to political dialogue."
Syrian state television said it was a "historic occasion," noting that it coincided with the eighth anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon after 22 years of occupation.
"The new Lebanese president enters Baabda palace (the presidential headquarters) with the green light of all Lebanese and enormous Arab and international support," a presenter said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, whose government is also blamed by Washington for fometing the political deadlock, said: "Attaining calm and security in this country is attaining calm and security on the level of the region as a whole."
Of the 127 MPs who voted, six cast blank ballots and several voted for other politicians, including slain Rafiq Hariri and other MPs killed since 2005.
Many Lebanese voiced cautious hope the vote will restore stability.
"I have a lot of hope in this election," said Aida Aoun. "But then again we have seen so many others get elected and then deceive us."
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