Lebanese parliament on Thursday nominated former finance minister Fouad Siniora as the new Prime Minister to lead the first cabinet without Syrian military presence since the country's 1975-1990 civil war, lawmakers said.

The parliament's nomination will be sent to Lebanese President Emile Lahoud for final approval and Siniora is expected to be formally appointed as the prime minister-designate later in the day.

Siniora got support from the majority of the 128-member parliament during consultation between President Lahoud and the MPs.

The anti-Syrian Future Bloc, the parliament's biggest group led by Saad Hariri, son of the assassinated former prime minister Rafik Hariri, decided on Wednesday night to throw its weight behind Siniora as its candidate for the premiership, the top post reserved for the Sunni Muslims under Lebanon's sectarian system.

Siniora, a veteran Sunni politician, served as finance minister in five governments led by Rafik Hariri from 1992 to 2004.

Lebanon's new parliament re-elected pro-Syrian Shiite leader Nabih Berri as speaker on Tuesday in its first session since the May 29-June 19 election, the first such polls since Syria was forced to pull out its troops from Lebanon in April.

Source: Xinhua