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 has voted to elect army commander Joseph Aoun as the head of state, filling a more than two-year-long presidential vacuum

Following 13 attempts to elect a president, Lebanon’s parliament has sworn in army commander Joseph Aoun as the head of state. Mr. Aoun is the preferred candidate of the United States and Saudi Arabia.