By DailyStar: Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri is poised to return to the
premiership this week after having secured the support of most of the
country’s major blocs, including his Future Movement, the Free Patriotic
Movement, the Lebanese Forces, MP Walid Jumblatt’s bloc, in addition to
a number of independent lawmakers. Meanwhile, Saudi King Salman Bin Abdel Aziz spoke by phone with
President Michel Aoun Tuesday night to congratulate him on his election
as head of state, wishing him good luck and success in his new national
responsibilities, in the kingdom’s clearest support of Aoun’s election.

BEIRUT (AP) — Lebanon’s two major
parliamentary blocs on Tuesday named Saad Hariri, a former prime
minister and a Sunni leader, as their candidate for premier in the
government being formed after a new president was elected The widely expected endorsement by the Future
bloc, led by Hariri, and the majority Christian bloc comes a day after
Michel Aoun was elected president. Hariri was promised the post in exchange for
backing Aoun’s presidential bid in parliament, ending a
two-and-half-year deadlock that left Lebanon without a president. Aoun is receiving the different parliamentary blocs Wednesday before naming the prime minister, likely before the weekend.

By Naharnet: Mustaqbal MP Ahmed Fatfat has asked to go alone to the
binding parliamentary consultations to name a premier, and will not
accompany the Mustaqbal bloc MPs to the presidential palace, al-Akhbar
daily reported on Wednesday. “Fatfat is taking this measure because he did not
support the bloc’s decision to nominate Aoun for the post of president,”
sources close to Fatfat told the daily. The sources denied rumors alleging that Hariri has
distanced Fatfat from the alliance for his failure to commit to a
decision to vote for Aoun. They assured that the two men had a
“friendly” telephone conversation on Tuesday. On the reason that made Fatfat leave the Mustaqbal ranks
despite the fact that other Mustaqbal MPs including head of the bloc
Fouad Saniora and MPs Mohammed Qabbani, Farid Makari, Ammar Houri and
Samir al-Jisr have also refrained from voting in favor of Aoun, the
sources preferred to keep the reason undisclosed. However, well-informed Mustaqbal sources told the daily
that distancing Fatfat came after a “direct request from Hariri, who is
very upset with the MPs actions, statements and his lack of commitment
to the bloc’s decision.”

By DailyStar:

Aoun’s call came during a phone conversation with U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry, who also called the founder of the Free Patriotic
Movement Tuesday night to congratulate him on his election as Lebanon’s
president. Kerry urged a quick formation of a new government in Lebanon
following Aoun’s election to the presidency. Kerry affirmed “the United States’ stand beside Lebanon’s and its
commitment to support the Lebanese Army in confronting terrorism and its
attempts to strengthen stability,” according to a statement released by
Baabda Palace’s media office. He also told Aoun that the U.S. and “the
international community are looking forward to the formation of a new
government as soon as possible,” the statement said.

Thanking Kerry, Aoun underlined the “importance of the U.S. keeping
its military assistance to the Lebanese Army which is working to bolster
security and stability in the country.” The U.S. has provided Lebanon with more than $1.4 billion in military
aid since 2005 following Syria’s withdrawal from the country. Army commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi was among the first visitors to meet
Aoun at the presidential palace in Baabda. Kahwagi later signed a
memorandum appointing Brig. Gen. Salim Feghali as the head of the
Presidential Guard. Feghali is set to begin his job on Nov. 7.

Hariri, 46, served as prime minister briefly
between late 2009 and 2011, when his government was brought down by
powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group, now a major Aoun backer. He since
left Lebanon, and was a vocal critic of Hezbollah. He returned earlier
this year, sounding a more conciliatory tone.

The U.N. Security Council welcomed Aoun’s
election as “a long-awaited and critical step to overcome Lebanon’s
political and institutional crisis.” It urged the new president to
promote the country’s stability and swiftly form a unity government and
elect a parliament by May 2017, saying these steps “are critical for
Lebanon’s stability and resilience to withstand regional challenges.”

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby
told reporters in Washington that Secretary of State John Kerry called
both Hariri and Aoun to congratulate them and express, “our desire to
see now that the Lebanese people have a chief executive, to see that
Lebanon can move forward.”

___

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.