Michel Suleiman

Michel Suleiman has been the President of Lebanon since 2008. After a lengthy military career culminating in a ten-year tenure as Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, Parliament elected him as president during negotiations that outlasted the previous president's term by six months; talks frequently stalled as the two main factions remained intransigent on several critical issues. Suleiman is widely seen as neutral politically; when he became president, he requested that the military disregard politics.

Suleiman is a Maronite Catholic; the Lebanese Presidency is reserved for Maronites, just as the Prime Ministry is for Sunnis and the Speaker of Parliament is always a Shi'ite. As president, he has promoted compromise and understanding, both domestically and within the greater Middle East. As the military commander who helped to drive the Syrian military out of Lebanon in 2005, he is now trying to ensure that Lebanon remains independent from foreign influence.

For more information, see http://bbc.in/siEkhp.