Lebanon’s new president and former army commander Joseph Aoun has maintained a low profile. Those who know him say he is no-nonsense and averse to affiliating himself with any party or even expressing a political opinion.

Lebanon's newly elected president, Joseph Aoun, said Thursday that "a new phase" has started for the war-ravaged country and pledged to rebuild the state, adopt a policy of "positive neutrality" and fight corruption.

Lebanon’s parliament chose the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.

Lebanon's parliament elected the former army commander president after a two-year vacancy for the head of state.

General Joseph Aoun, the Lebanese army commander who was elected president on Thursday, kept his military on the sidelines of a recent war between Israel and armed group Hezbollah, ordering it to prioritise civil peace even as troops were killed.

Xi said that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Lebanon ties and is ready to work with President Aoun to promote the friendly relations between the two countries and mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields, so as to better benefit the two peoples.

The election of army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun garnered rare consensus among the Lebanese, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the first presidential election for Lebanon following the fall of the Assad regime.

In a phone call with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman who had called to congratulate him on winning the elections, Aoun said, “Saudi Arabia would be the first destination in his visits abroad”

Lebanon’s parliament voted Thursday to elect the country’s army commander, Joseph Aoun, as head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum.