The final agreement was reached at 3:00 am Doha Qatar time after intensive negotiations that lasted for 5 days
The future president Suleiman will replace the former pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud, whose term expired last November

The presidential elections were postponed 20 times by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri , because the rival politicians could not reach an agreement on the new cabinet and the new electoral law , even though they all agreed on Suleiman as the consensus candidate

Here is a brief Bio of Army chief General Michel Suleiman

Name -- Michel Suleiman.

Age and date of Birth - 59; Nov. 21, 1948.

Education -- Graduated from Lebanon's military academy as second lieutenant, 1970; holds bachelor of arts degree in political and administrative sciences from Lebanese University. He masters English and French languages

Experience -- Commander of armed forces, December 21, 1998-present; commander of 6th Infantry Brigade, 1996-98; commander of 11th Infantry Brigade, 1993-96; army staff secretary-general, 1991-93; chief of intelligence branch, 1990-91.

Accomplishments -- Protected mass anti-Syria demonstrations and counter-protests; squashed sectarian violence; deployed army in Hezbollah strongholds of southern Lebanon for first time in decades; crushed rebellion by Islamic extremists in northern Lebanon.

He is the 12th and current commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). He succeeded Emile Lahoud after he was elected as the President of Lebanon.
He is Married to Wafaa Suleiman and they have three children.

Decorations, medals, awards and honors

* National Order of the Cedar, knight grade and grand cordon grade
* Lebanese Order of Merit, 3rd, 2nd and 1st grades
* Decoration of Military Pride, silver grade
* Medal of War
* Decoration of Military Valor, silver grade
* Decoration of the National Unity
* Decoration of the Dawn of the South
* Syrian Order of Merit, grade of excellence
* Certificate of Honor of the Arab Union
* Decoration of Arab Union for Military Sports, 2nd degree (commander)
* Medal from the President of the Ukrainian Republic
* Medal from the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Russian Federation in 2007
* Military Medal
* Internal Security forces' Medal
* General Security Medal
* State security Medal
* Commemorative Medal of Conferences for the year 2002
* Citations of the Armed Forces Commander, 4 times - Felicitations of the Armed Forces Commander, 18 times - Felicitations of the Brigade Commander, once

Comments about General Suleiman

Many March 14 supporters were disappointed with March 14 alliance for backing the election of the General for the following reasons:

1- General Suleiman was appointed by the Syrians as commander of the Lebanese Army in 1998.

2- General Suleiman was the head of the army when many Lebanese were tortured by the Army to "confess" whatever the army wanted

3- General Suleiman was the head of the army when many Lebanese were arrested based on orders from Syria on August 7, 2001

4- His brother in law, Gebran Kuriyyeh was the official spokesman of Hafez Assad, father of the current Syrian president Basher Assad.

5- General Suleiman defended Syrian connection with Fatah al Islam , claiming that the terrorist organization was part of Al Qaida, this is despite the confessions of the jailed Fatah al Islam terrorists about their links to Syria.

6- General Suleiman praised Hezbollah for their alleged victory during the summer war with Israel , despite the fact that Hezbollah criticized the army during the war which left Lebanon in ruins with over 1200 dead , mainly civilians .

7- General Suleiman was criticized for the way he handled Hezbollah attack against the Sunnis of Beirut and the attack against the Druze of Mount Lebanon. Many thought the army sided with Hezbollah , since it did not defend the Lebanese citizens, specially because Hezbollah is the only group that still has arms, all the others had to surrender them to the army 18 years ago.

On the other hand the March 14 supporters expressed preference for Suleiman over general Michel Aoun, who is generally despised by them for allying himself with Hezbollah. They also all credit Suleiman with the victory over the Fatah al Islam terrorists.
March 14 supporters would have preferred MP Boutros Harb or former MP Nassib Lahoud, but they were under pressure to agree on a consensus candidate

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