Lebanon elects new president

Michel Suleiman was sworn as Lebanon's president yesterday after parliament elected him in long-delayed vote that was a key step toward restoring political stability.

Celebratory gunfire and occasional explosions reverberated across the capital Beirut as news of Suleiman's election was announced.

In the general's hometown of Aamchit on the Mediterranean coast north of Beirut, hundreds of people broke out in cheers and dancing in the main square as they watched the vote on a giant screen.