BEIRUT >> Lebanon’s new president has asked prominent diplomat and jurist Nawaf Salam to form the country’s new government after Salam was named prime minister by a large number of legislators Monday. The move apparently angered the Hezbollah group and its allies.

Salam is currently serving as the head of the International Court of Justice and his nomination was made by Western-backed groups as well as independents in the Lebanese parliament. Salam has the support of Saudi Arabia and Western countries as well. Hezbollah legislators abstained from naming any candidate for the prime minister’s post.

Salam’s nomination is seen by many as a glimpse of hope after the 14-month Israel-Hezbollah war that left 4,000 people dead and more than 16,000 wounded and caused destruction totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. The war stopped in late November when a U.S.-brokered 60-day truce went into effect.

Shortly after Salam won majority backing from legislators, some people celebrated in the streets of Beirut with fireworks amid hopes that his nomination and last week’s election of army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun as president would help release billions of dollars of investements and loans by foreign donors.

Salam will have a difficult mission ahead of him following the truce with Israel that caused widespread destruction in the Mediterranean nation and weakened the Iran-backed Hezbollah. He will also have to work on getting the small nation out of its historic five-year economic meltdown.

In past years, Hezbollah has repeatedly blocked Salam from becoming prime minister, casting him as a U.S.-backed candidate.

“We will see their acts when it comes to forcing the occupiers to leave our country, bringing back prisoners, reconstruction” and the implementation of the U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the Israel-Hezbollah war, the head of Hezbollah’s parliamentary bloc, Mohammed Raad, said after meeting with Aoun.