Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has said the country is at a “fateful juncture” as it stands to decide between “a sovereign state that monopolises arms and upholds the rule of law” or to remain “hostage to the logic of militias and the culture of exclusion”, Al Jazeera reports.

Speaking on the anniversary of the assassination of former minister Tony Suleiman Frangieh in 1978 by armed factions, Aoun has said national unity was an “existential necessity”.

“We are at a moment that tolerates neither sectarian luxury nor regional tug-of-war,” he was quoted as saying.

Aoun, a former armed forces chief, has faced the difficult task of disarming Hezbollah without pushing Lebanon into renewed civil conflict.