Lebanon celebrated Independence Day on Tuesday with several challenges facing the country, including lining-up a new cabinet after the recent election of President Michel Aoun which ended a two-year power vacuum at the post.

The country marked 73 years of independence with an official ceremony that was be staged at Shafiq al-Wazzan Boulevard in Downtown Beirut.

Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji hailed on Monday the election of President Michel Aoun and said that it turns a new leaf for Lebanon that will help to found the basis for national unification that has long been sought.

Qahwaji's comments came during his Order of the Day on the Occasion of Independence Day, he said: “The election of President General Michel Aoun has turned a new page and reshaped the broad lines of a political reality that has witnessed a lot of divisions and alignments. It heralds a promising era in the regularity of the state institutions and the integration of their roles, and to improve stability.”

President Michel Aoun has received cables greeting him on the occasion of Lebanon's Independence Day from the United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, state-run National News Agency reported on Monday.

In his cable, the UAE president offered his sincerest wishes for the Lebanese President and people.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault stated that the Saudi grant to provide Lebanon with French weapons has not been reactivated as yet, and that the Lebanese need to send a positive “political signal” through the formation of a new cabinet to reactivate it, media reports said on Monday.

“The signal to reactivate the grant will not rise from the Saudi side but should initially originate from the Lebanese through the formation of their government,” Ayrault told An Nahar daily in an interview.

Speaker Nabih Berri unveiled an old agreement between him and President Michel Aoun when the latter vowed to Berri that the finance ministry will always be given to a Shiite minister as long as Aoun is president, As Safir daily reported Monday.

Berri unveiled the agreement that goes back to 1988 when Lebanon was under the Syrian tutelage and President Michel Aoun was Army Commander. He said that Aoun had vowed that the finance ministry portfolio will always be given to a Shiite minister as long as he is president, shall Berri convince the Syrian leadership of helping Aoun reach the presidential post, the daily reported.

Security Forces arrested two suspects involved in circulating counterfeit money in south of Lebanon, the National News Agency reported on Saturday.

The two locals were arrested in the border town of Shebaa.

Peruvian media outlets accused Hizbullah of being involved in violence and killing a Peruvian citizen during protests staged by locals a few weeks ago, al-Arabiya news website reported Saturday.

During demonstrations staged by locals from La Pampa district against government projects, one of the demonstrators was shot and killed.

President Michel Aoun did not approve the draft line-up of a new cabinet submitted to him by Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri, contrary to claims that alleged otherwise, which spoils the hopes of a near final agreement on the shape of the new government, media reports said Friday.

During their meeting on Wednesday, reports said that Hariri submitted to Aoun a draft line-up that might be announced soon.

Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi held a meeting with President Michel Aoun on Friday one day after the latter paid him a protocol visit in Bkirki.

“I am here today to congratulate the President on the occasion of Independence Day which regained its luster and meaning in the presence of Aoun, the President, the basis of our dignity, before I head to Rome,” said the Patriarch.

The Lebanese army arrested on Friday at dawn, several suspects in the Syrian encampments in the northeastern border town of Arsal, the National News Agency reported.

The army carried out a wide deployment operation in the area, and staged raids on the encampments of displaced Syrians in the town of Ain al-Shaab as they searched for fugitives, NNA said.