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.

BEIRUT: Lebanese lawmakers elected army chief Joseph Aoun as president on Thursday (Jan 9), ending a more than two-year vacancy in a step towards lifting the war-battered country out of financial crisis.