Lebanon's Hariri named Prime Minister, wins speaker's support
BEIRUT -- Lebanon's president asked Sunni Muslim leader Saad al-Hariri to form a new government on Thursday after he won the support of a majority of MPs and the endorsement of the influential parliament speaker.
Hariri's nomination is part of a political deal that resulted in the election of Christian leader Michel Aoun, a close ally of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, as head of state on Monday, ending a 2-1/2 year long presidential vacuum.
A big concession on the part of Hariri, the deal has underscored Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah's dominant position in Lebanon and the diminished role of Hariri's main regional backer, Saudi Arabia, which appears more focused on confronting Iranian influence elsewhere in the region.
