BEIRUT - SAAD Hariri, son of slain billionaire ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, was himself named Lebanon's new prime minister on Saturday, a presidential statement said.

'According to the constitution and after the president consulted with the speaker of parliament and parliamentarians, he (Lebanese President Michel Sleiman) summoned Saad Hariri and tasked him with forming a new government,' the statement said.

UNDER the current government, headed by Fuad Siniora, Hezbollah and its allies have veto power over major decisions. The unity government was formed in May 2008, bringing to an end a political crisis that had brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war. ... more

Mr Hariri's anti-Syrian March 14 alliance won 71 out of parliament's 128 seats in June 7 parliamentary elections while a rival alliance, led by the Syrian- and Iran-backed Shiite party Hezbollah, secured 57 seats.

In total, he was proposed by 86 of deputies - the 71 from his own majority alliance, plus pro-Syrian parliament speaker Nabih Berri and his bloc of 12 MPs and two Armenian MPs, the various groups said.

Mr Berri's allies in the Hezbollah-led coalition abstained from naming anyone for the job, reserved for a Sunni Muslim under Lebanon's complex sectarian political system.

Mr Hariri, who heads the Sunni Future movement, had urged his supporters to refrain from firing celebratory shots after his expected designation but the news was greeted by fireworks across parts of the capital Beirut.

The prime minister-designate must now form a cabinet that satisfies both his allies and his rivals in the Hezbollah-led March 8 coalition.

While he has more than an ample majority in parliament, he is bound by an agreement with all parties to 'preserve a spirit of consensus.'

Mr Berri, who was re-elected to a fifth consecutive term as speaker on Thursday, said he nominated Mr Hariri on condition he form another unity government.

'I would like to see a government in which March 14 and March 8 are melded together,' Mr Berri told AFP. -- AFP