By NNN-KUNA
Cairo : The Arab League Council at the ministerial level Saturday evening welcomed the nomination of army chief Gen. Michel Suleiman to presidency.
This came in a news release issued at the wrapping-up of a consultative meeting held earlier in the day at the Cairo-based Arab League on the latest Lebanese situation.
The council called for electing Suleiman immediately as per constitutional rules.
Once a new president is elected, and a new government is set up, a fresh election law should be enacted, the council said.
The council asked Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa to step up contacts with all Lebanese, Arab, regional and international parties in order to notch up such an end.
The meeting was devoted to the latest developments of the Lebanese situation after the Lebanese parliament failed to hold a session to elect a consensus president.
Hezbollah and its allies have been demanding a third of the cabinet seats since the 2006 war with Israel.
The dispute between the government and opposition has left Lebanon without a president for more than five weeks.
A parliamentary session to elect a president was postponed for the 11th time on Dec.28 and is now due to begin on Jan. 12.
Government and opposition agree on that the next president, traditionally a Maronite Christian and elected by parliament, should be the head of the army, Gen Michel Suleiman.
But they disagree over the shape of a future government.