BEIRUT: Lebanon's cabinet Wednesday appointed a new army chief, General Joseph Aoun, ending a deadlock that twice forced an extension of the term of the military's sitting head.
The appointment of the successor to General Jean Kahwaji is the first by Lebanon's cabinet since it was formed after President Michel Aoun's election in October.
A ministerial source told AFP the appointment had "the consensus of all the political forces", adding the new chief was "well-known and removed from any political conflicts".
Michel Aoun, himself a former chief of Lebanon's army, is not related to Lebanon's president, although the two served together in the military.
Lebanon's already fractious political scene has faced tensions linked to the war in neighbouring Syria since March 2011.
A political stalemate left the country without a president for over two years until Michel Aoun was elected under a compromise deal in October 2016.
Under the deal, rival Saad Hariri was named prime minister and he formed a cabinet in December.
Lebanon is due to hold parliamentary elections in May 2017, the first legislative vote in eight years, after the body twice extended its own mandate.
Lebanon appoints new army chief ending deadlock
Lebanon appoints new army chief ending deadlock
Thirty four Australians released from Syrian camp holding Daesh affiliated families
- Roj camp holds more than 2,000 people from 40 different nationalities, the majority of them women and children
ROJ CAMP: Syrian Kurdish forces on Monday released 34 Australians from a camp holding families of suspected Daesh militants in northern Syria, saying they would be flown to Australia from Damascus.
Hukmiya Mohamed, a co-director of Roj camp, told Reuters that the 34 Australians had been released to members of their families who had come to Syria for the release. They were put on small buses for Damascus.
Roj camp holds more than 2,000 people from 40 different nationalities, the majority of them women and children.
Thousands of people believed to be linked to Daesh militants have been held at Roj and a second camp, Al-Hol, since the militant group was driven from its final territorial foothold in Syria in 2019.
Syrian government forces seized swathes of northern Syria from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in January, before agreeing a ceasefire on January 29.
The US military last week completed a mission to transfer 5,700 adult male Daesh detainees from Syria to Iraq.
