'So much work ahead': Mikati discusses Israeli violations, new govt. with Aoun

Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Friday with newly elected president Joseph Aoun at the Presidential Palace in Baabda.

Mikati said he discussed with the new president the situation in south Lebanon and stressed that the Israeli army must completely withdraw from south Lebanon and stop violating the ceasefire reached in November.

Aoun faces the tasks of overseeing the fragile ceasefire in the south and naming a prime minister capable of implementing the reforms demanded by international creditors in return for a desperately needed bailout.

He said he would call for parliamentary consultations as soon as possible on naming a new prime minister.

Mikati and the caretaker ministers remain in office until a new government is formed. "We still have so much work ahead to save Lebanon," Mikati said from Baabda.

Aoun vowed Thursday after his election that the state would have "a monopoly" on bearing weapons. "I pledge to call for discussing a comprehensive defense strategy... on the diplomatic, economic and military levels that will enable the Lebanese state -- I repeat, the Lebanese state -- to remove the Israeli occupation and deter its aggression," he said.

After meeting Aoun, Mikati described the coming days as "a new phase, particularly for the south." He said that from now on only the state will be present in the south and in all Lebanese territories. "What do we expect from the new president and the new government? Do we expect them to say that weapons are legal for everyone?" Mikati rhetorically asked.

The war which ended in late November dealt heavy blows to Hezbollah, with longtime leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah killed in an Israeli air strike.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, the Lebanese Army is to deploy alongside U.N. peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period.

Hezbollah is to withdraw its forces north of the Litani River -- some 30 kilometers from the border -- and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.

The army was not part of the 13-months conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. The conflict was initiated by Hezbollah over the war in Gaza, but flared into an all-out war when Israel stepped up its bombing campaign in September and later sent troops into Lebanon.