Omar Karami

Omar Abdul Hamid Karami (last name also spelled Karamé and Karameh^[1]) (Arabic: عمر عبد الحميد كرامي‎) (born September 7, 1934) was the Prime Minister of Lebanon on two separate occasions. He was Prime Minister for the first time from December 24, 1990, when Selim al-Hoss gave up power, until May 13, 1992, when he resigned after massive protests orchestrated by Rafic Hariri, who had the largest capital in Lebanon, and had converted all his money into US dollars, causing the Lebanese currency to collapse, and the blame to fall on Karami, so he would be prime minister in Karami's place. He was sworn in again on October 21, 2004 and resigned on February 28, 2005, amid protests following the murder of the previous prime minister, Rafik Hariri. He is the younger brother of Rashid Karami.

Karami was born in the northern Lebanese town of An Nouri, near Tripoli. He is the son of former Prime Minister and independence hero Abdul Hamid Karami and the brother of Arab nationalist eight-time Prime Minister Rashid Karami, who was assassinated in 1987. He holds a degree in law from the Lebanese University. Omar entered politics following his brother's assassination and was elected as Parliamentary representative of Tripoli in 1991. He is a staunch supporter of close ties with neighboring Syria.

After the murder of the previous Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri, in 2005, members of the opposition blamed Syria for the assassination, and demanded Syria withdraw its troops and intelligence personnel from Lebanon, something Karami's pro-Syrian government opposed. Some opposition leaders even accused Karami's government itself of involvement with the killing. Protests grew in Beirut despite an official ban on public protests, and the opposition planned to call for a no confidence vote. Amid the growing pressure, Karami announced on February 28, 2005 that his government would resign, although it remained temporarily in a caretaker role.

Ten days after the resignation, following protests in Beirut that were supportive of Syria, President Émile Lahoud re-appointed Karami as prime minister on March 10 and asked him to form a new government. With the backing of a majority of MPs, Karami called on all parties to join a government of national unity. [1]

On April 13, after failing to create a new Government, Karami resigned again. This resignation added to the turmoil already prevalent in Lebanon since Rafik Hariri's assassination as now there was no Government to call the elections which were due that upcoming May.[2]

See also

• History of Lebanon
• Rashid Karami
• Abdul Hamid Karami
• Cedar Revolution

References