Lebanon’s Nawaf Salam wins key support, set to become Lebanon's Prime Minister

Nawaf Salam, the head of the International Court of Justice, looked on course to become Lebanon's prime minister after more than half of lawmakers backed him for the post on Monday, reflecting the weakened position of Hezbollah which wanted Najib Mikati to keep the job.

The support for Salam underlined the big shift in the power balance among Lebanon's sectarian factions since the Shi'ite group Hezbollah was pummelled in the war with Israel and its ally Bashar al-Assad was toppled in Syria last month.

The election last week of army commander General Joseph Aoun as head of state, a choice backed by the United States, also showed the shift in Lebanon's political landscape, in which Hezbollah had long held decisive sway.

Aoun, a Maronite Christian, was holding consultations over the choice of prime minister with parliament's 128 lawmakers on Monday. He is obliged to pick the candidate with the greatest number of votes.

Salam had secured the backing of 68 of the lawmakers by Monday afternoon.

Hezbollah lawmakers attended their meeting with Aoun later than scheduled, delaying their arrival as they saw the momentum building behind Salam, a Hezbollah source said.

Hezbollah believed a political understanding had been reached on Mikati's election before the group agreed to elect Aoun last week, the source said.