French leader Emmanuel macron arrived in Beirut on Friday for his first visit to Lebanon since Joseph Aoun was elected president, ending a two-year presidential vacuum. Macron's plane landed at Rafic Hariri International Airport at 7 am (0500GMT),

French President Emmanuel Macron met Friday with Lebanon’s newly elected President Joseph Aoun and vowed to support the small nation as it tries to recover from a historic economic crisis and the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war.

Macron also spoke to Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ahead of the visit. Paris has sought to get Riyadh to re-engage in Lebanon for months and the arrival of Joseph Aoun to the presidency and Nawaf Salam as prime minister has helped that process.