French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday welcomed the "crucial election" by Lebanese lawmakers of army chief Joseph Aoun as president after a two-year vacuum at the top, calling his victory an opportunity for reform in the country.

Lebanese army chief Joseph Aoun was voted in as president in a second round of parliamentary voting Thursday, ending a more than two-year vacuum in the crisis-hit, war-battered country. French

Lebanon's parliament has elected the country's army chief as president, ending a power vacuum that has lasted more than two years.