MAARAB, Lebanon (AP) A former Lebanese warlord who now leads a Christian right-wing party has announced he will run for president in the tiny Arab country's elections later this spring.
Samir Geagea, a staunch critic of the militant Shiite Hezbollah group, is the first politician to announce his candidacyfor the vote, expected to take place before the end of May when the six-year term of President Michel Suleiman ends.
Geagea is known as an intensely anti-Syrian politician.
He made the announcement on Friday. His Lebanese Forces party later confirmed its executive board "unanimously agreed" to nominate Geagea.
According to Lebanon's power-sharing system, the president must be a Maronite Christian, the prime minister a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker a Shiite Muslim.
