Lebanon‘s President Michel Suleiman (C), Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (L) and Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri (R) stand during a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS)

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Lebanese army helicopters fly during a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS TRANSPORT MILITARY)

Lebanese army soldiers ride armoured personnel carriers as they take part in a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY TRANSPORT)

Reuters via Yahoo! News – Nov 22 2:53 AM

• Lebanese security forces ride horses as they take part in a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY ANIMALS)

Military band members take part in a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY)

Beirut – Lebanon celebrated its 66th Independence Day on Sunday amid calls to enhance national unity and bring about about economic and political reforms. On November 22, 1943, Lebanon was liberated from a French mandate that lasted 23 years after the fall of Ottoman rule.

Lebanese army soldiers display their skills as they slide down a rope from a helicopter to land on a building during a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY TRANSPORT)

Lebanese special forces soldiers eat snakes during a military parade to mark the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence from France, in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday Nov. 22, 2009. Every year, Lebanon marks independence from France in 1943 with a military parade. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Lebanese army soldier displays his skills as he glides on a rope during a military parade to celebrate the 66th anniversary of Lebanon‘s independence day in downtown Beirut November 22, 2009. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON ANNIVERSARY POLITICS MILITARY)

A military parade was held in the capital Beirut, with Prime Minister Saad Hariri and Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri, as well as foreign and Arab officials present.

President Michel Suleiman, in a speech on the eve of the Independence Day said, "We need to build state institutions according to a political platform based on openness and the preservation of civil rights."

He also called for abandoning political sectarianism, which had acted as a major obstacle to the formation of a new national unity cabinet made up of rival political factions earlier this month.