By AFP

The United States is cautiously optimistic that Lebanon is on the
point of breaking a political deadlock and appointing its first
president in two years. “This stalemate on
the issue of the presidency is hurting Lebanon and hurts the region and
we hope it will move forward,” Secretary of State John Kerry said
Friday.

Lebanon’s former prime minister
Saad Hariri on Thursday endorsed his rival Michel Aoun’s presidential
ambition, paving the way for him to be appointed. The
endorsement looks likely to fill a void that has lasted since May 2014,
with Lebanon’s divided parliament unable to agree a successor to
president Michel Sleiman. Hariri, a Sunni Muslim whose party leads a Western- and Saudi-backed political bloc, had opposed Aoun’s candidacy. Aoun,
an 81-year-old Maronite Christian and former head of the Lebanese army,
is allied with the Shiite movement Hezbollah, which is in turn backed
by Iran.