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Nabih Berri (born January 28, 1938) is the speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly. He heads the mostly Shi'a Amal Party.
He was born in Sierra Leone to Lebanese parents. He went to school in Tibnin in southern Lebanon and later studied at Makassed and the Ecole de la Sagesse in Beirut. He obtained a Law degree in 1963 from the Lebanese University, where he had served as the student body president. During the 1960s, he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement.
In the early 1970s he worked in Beirut as a lawyer for General Motors. He also lived in the Detroit-area from 1976 to 1978.
He held a series of positions in the Amal movement during the 1970, as a follower of Imam Moussa Sader, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared in mysterious circumstances while on a trip to Libya in 1978. This culminated in his assumption of full control in April 1980. He led the Amal movement during the fierce fighting of Lebanon's civil war. In 1984, he joined the National Unity government as Minister for Southern Reconstruction, and later, of Justice and of Electrical and Hydraulic Resources, under Prime Minister Rashid Karami. In this capacity, he played a key role in the negotiated release of the hostages following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
Berri again served as a Cabinet minister from 1989 to 1992, when he was elected Speaker of the National Assembly on November 20. The position of Speaker, which the Constitution reserves for a Shiite, is the highest governmental position a Shiite can obtain. He is viewed by many as a puppet of the Syrian government, and is a close ally of the pro-Syrian President, Emile Lahoud. Berri is also accused of having embezzeled millions of dollars, being a main collaborator of the Syrian regime. He is also thought to have blackmailed many politicians, including former prime minister Rafik Hariri. He claims to be the leader of the Shi'ite community in Lebanon, although two-thirds of the Shi'ite population deny him of any right in the Amal Movement or the Parliament Presidency. He is viewed by many of Lebanon's intellectuels to be corrupt, but by most of his uneducated supporters he is represented as a hero.
Nabih Berri (born January 28, 1938) is the speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly. He heads the mostly Shi'a Amal Party.
He was born in Sierra Leone to Lebanese parents. He completed his elementary education in Tibnin in southern Lebanon, his intermediary education in the Jaafarite School of Tyr and later studied at Makassed and the Ecole de la Sagesse in Beirut. He obtained a Law degree in 1963 from the Lebanese University ranking first among his graduating class. He was elected the president of the National Union of Students of Lebanon. Berri also obtained a Masters degree in Law from the Sorbonne University - Paris. During the 1960s, he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement.
In the early 1970s he worked in Beirut as a lawyer for General Motors. He also lived in the Detroit-area from 1976 to 1978.
He joined the Movement of the Deprived, which was founded by Imam Moussa Sader, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared in mysterious circumstances while on a trip to Libya in 1978. Berri was reponsible for the media relations and correspondences with other political parties. He held a series of other positions in the Amal movement during the 1970, after the resignation of Hussein Husseini in 1980, Berri was elected president of the Amal Movement in April 1980. He led the Amal movement during the fierce fighting of Lebanon's civil war.
Berri played a major role in the struggle against the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon. He also - in collabortaion with other political parties in Lebanon, mainly the Progressive Socialist Party, stood against the May 17 agreement between the Lebanese president Amine Gemayel and Israel through the uprising of February 6, 1984 which cancelled the agreement that was believed by many nationalists to be humiliating for the Lebanese.
In 1984, he joined the National Unity government as Minister for Southern Reconstruction, and later, of Justice and of Electrical and Hydraulic Resources, under Prime Minister Rashid Karami. In this capacity, he played a key role in the negotiated release of the hostages following the hijacking of TWA Flight 847.
Berri again served as a Cabinet minister from 1989 to 1992, when he was elected Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament on November 20. The position of Speaker, which the Constitution reserves for a Shiite, is the highest governmental position a Shiite can obtain. Berri was reelected Speaker of the parliament for three consecutive terms and he is still serving as a Speaker until now. He is viewed by many of his Lebanese oponents to be corrupt, but by most of his supporters he is represented as a hero.
Nabih Berri heads the Union of Parliamentarian of Lebanese Origin since 1993. He was elected president of the Union of Arabian Parliaments in June 2003.
References
- Lebanese Embassy Profile
- Middle East Intelligence Bureau Profile
- Amal Movement website of Nabih Berri
- Lebanese Parliament Profile