Gen. Lahoud to be elected Lebanese president within 10 days

During the summit meeting between President Hafez al-Assad and Lebanese President Elias Hrawi, it was agreed to choose Gen. Lahoud as the next president of Lebanon.

Upon arriving in Beirut on Monday night, President Hrawi phoned Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and informed him of results of the summit with President al-Assad, especially as Hrawi, before he headed to Damascus, asked Berri to brief him on the constitutional mechanism for amending article 49.

According to so-far available data this mechanism will proceed as follows: On Thursday, the Lebanese Cabinet will meet under the chairmanship of President Hrawi, who will suggest according to article 76 of the constitution to amend item three of article 49 to abrogate the constitutional barrier for preventing the nomination of state employees.

Then the Lebanese Cabinet will endorse the amendment and submit it to the Parliament and parliamentary groups will vote on the amendment and the decision will be issued in the official journal.

Then, it will be either on next Wednesday or Thursday that the Lebanese parliament will meet to elect Gen. Lahoud.