Lebanese President Sleiman calls for new PM

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman has called on the country’s parliament to appoint a new prime minister, following the shock resignation of Najib Mikati last week. Mikati, who served as prime minister since 2011, announced his resignation last week amid an increasingly fractured government and the deteriorating security situation caused by spill-over from the neighbouring Syrian conflict. In a statement issued by the president’s office, Sleiman called on politicians set to meet at Baabda Palace on April 5 to “pave the way for appointing a new prime minister to rule the country during the coming period.”