Nabih Berri
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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.
In last few years Nabih Berri has proved to be a man of state, a guarantee of national unity. In the beginning of 2006 Nabih Berri created the national dialogue that brought Lebanese people together . He is considered the only strong moderate lebanese leader.Today, many of the lebanese see him as the only hope for Lebanon to rise from its critical issues between the opposition and the government.
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Nabih Berri (born January 28, 1938) is the speaker of the Lebanese National Assembly. He heads the Lebanese Amal Party.
Nabih Berri 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 his leadership skills rapidly showed up as he became the student body president. During the 1960s, he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement.
In the early 1970s, Nabih Berri worked in Beirut as a lawyer for General Motors. In parallel, Berri held a series of positions in the Amal movement, a Movement founded by Imam Moussa Sader, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared in mysterious circumstances while on a trip to Libya in 1978. After the disappearance of Imam Al Sadr, Nabih Berri took in hand the noble, yet difficult, tasks of Imam Moussa Al Sadr and devoted his life to help the unprivileged civilians who were unjustly dominated by the so-called leaders.
Nabih Berri led the Amal movement during Lebanon's civil war, where the Amal Movement fought aggressively against everyone who looked to detach Lebanon from its Arabic identity because of their personal interests.
In 1984, Berri 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.
All along his career as the Lebanese Speaker, Nabih Berri devoted himself, and the group of deputies he is leading, to ensure the unity of Lebanese people since he believed that the only way for the Lebanese mosaic to survive is by establishing a constant dialogue between the Lebanese political schools of thinking.
Nabih Berri is perceived as a hero by many. Indeed, some politicians in Lebanon do not meet him in all of his beliefs. Yet, they respect him for his cleverness, trustworthiness and his devotion to his noble beliefs.
