Hezbollah says it backs Christian ally to become president

By BASSEM MROUE
Associated Press

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah says the group backs a former Cabinet minister and strong ally to become Lebanon’s next president. Monday’s announcement was the first time Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah openly named Sleiman Frangieh as the candidate they support. Frangieh still needs the backing of other blocs — support that could be difficult to get. Frangieh hails from a well-known political family from northern Lebanon. His grandfather — the man whose name he carries — was a former Lebanese president. When he was 13, his father, Tony Frangieh, was killed along with his mother and sister in an infamous 1978 massacre perpetrated by rival Christian Maronite forces.