Hezbollah issues message to Egypt's Morsi

BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 26 (UPI) -- Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah called on the Egyptian president-elect to return the country to a leadership position in the region.

Mohamed Morsi, the candidate from the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, was declared the winner last weekend in a presidential runoff election. He beat former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq in becoming the first democratically elected president in Egyptian history.

Hezbollah, in a statement published by its al-Manar news service, called on Morsi to embrace the spirit of the 2011 revolution.

"Hezbollah prays for Allah to help him to bear this great responsibility in this critical stage of Egypt's history and the region and to enable him to achieve the aspirations of the Egyptian people and return Egypt back to its advanced Arab and Islamic position in defending the causes of the nation and shaping the future and the fate of the region," the message read.

Egypt lacks a constitution that would define the role of the president in post-revolution Egypt. Morsi's critics said he's to become a president with little formal power.

Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department, said there are many challenges ahead for Morsi's Egypt.

"Egypt is going to need our support, it's going to need the international community's support, but all of these steps and all of the actors involved need to be true to the spirit and the values that spurred Egypt to this point," she said during a regular press briefing.

Morsi is to take the oath of office next weekend.