The UN’s International Court of Justice announced on Feb. 6 that it had elected a new president, Judge Nawaf Salam, formerly Lebanon’s ambassador and permanent representative to the UN over 2007-2017. Salam’s tweet stated: “My election as President of the International Court of Justice is a major responsibility in achieving international justice and upholding international law.”
Ambassador Salam comes from a Lebanese family prominent over the last century in fighting for Lebanon’s independence and whose members served five terms as prime minister (including both an uncle and a cousin). His wife, Sahar Baassiri, is Lebanon’s Ambassador to UNESCO.
