Defense Minister Samir Moqbel appointed Friday Major General Hatem Malak as the acting Army Chief of Staff, replacing Maj. Gen. Walid Salman, whose term ends Friday.
Moqbel also issued a decision appointing Hussein Abdallah as the head of the Military Tribunal to succeed Maj. Gen. Khalil Ibrahim, as the latter’s tenure ends on October 10.
Earlier today, the defense minister received Salman at his office in Yarze in a farewell visit.
The decision to extend Kahwaji's term heading the army, seen as a rare neutral institution in a country beset by sectarian divisions, was supposed to have been made by the Cabinet, but it failed to convene because of Lebanon's political crisis.