The Western-backed government and Hezbollah-led opposition had agreed the army chief as a compromise candidate as violence raised fears of civil war.

As he was sworn in, the new president called for a "new phase", and a "quiet dialogue" on some of Lebanon's thorniest issues, including the role of Hezbollah as an armed movement.

The agreement that paved the way for his election, reached in Doha on Wednesday, ended some of the worst violence since the country's 1975-1990 civil war.