Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Nawaf Salam said on Tuesday his hands were "extended to everyone", in a gesture to the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group that accused opponents of seeking to exclude it by nominating him for the post.

The weakening of Hezbollah in last year's war with Israel allowed Lebanon's long deadlocked parliament to reach consensus around a president who has the confidence of the international community.Deadlock in parliament between pro- and anti-Hezbollah blocs had stalemated a dozen previous attempts to elect a president,

The Shi'ite group and its ally the Shi'ite Amal Movement had been due to tell Aoun they wanted caretaker Prime Minister Nabib Mikati to stay in the post, which is reserved for a Sunni Muslim in Lebanon's sectarian political system.