Nabih Berri (Arabic: نبيه بري; born January 28, 1938) is the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon. He heads the mostly Shi'a Amal Movement.
He was born in Bo, Sierra Leone to Lebanese parents. He went to school in Tebnine and Ain Ebel in southern Lebanon and later studied at the 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.citation needed
He held a series of positions in the Amal movement during the late 1970s, after the disappearance of Imam Musa al-Sadr, a Shi'a cleric who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while on a trip to Libya in 1978, and who is thought to have been killed on the orders of Muammar al-Gaddafi.
The resignation of Hussein el-Husseini from his post as leader of Amal resulted in Berri's assumption of full control in April 1980, and consequently the resignation of most of Amal's earliest members.
He led the Amal movement during the fierce fighting of the Lebanese Civil War. In 1984, he joined the National Unity government as Minister for Southern Reconstruction, and later, he served as Minister of Justice and of Electrical and Hydraulic Resources, under Prime Minister Rashid Karami.
Berri again served as a Cabinet minister from 1989 to 1992, when he was elected speaker of the National Assembly on November 20.
It is widely believed that Berri has benefited from the large sums of money - over $3 billion - that were invested in the Council of the South, whose head was appointed by Berri. The money was supposed to go to the reconstruction of the Southern province.[1][2][3][4]
Berri's sister-in-law, Samira Assi, has made a fortune by getting a contract from Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi, who was responsible for Musa al-Sadr's disappearance, to print one million copies of his Green Book[2].
He, as well as Rafik Hariri and Walid Jumblatt, are viewed by many as having been puppets of the Syrian government during its 30-year military presence, as well as corrupt politicians.[1][2][3][5][6][7]
References
- ^ a b "Dossier:Rafiq Hariri", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (2001-07).
- ^ a b c "Dossier:Nabih Berri", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (2000-12).
- ^ a b "The Three Faces of corruption in Lebanon", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (2001-02).
- ^ "Hezbollah: Between Tehran and Damascus", Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin (2002-02).
- ^ "Nabih Berri", Encyclopaedia of the Orient, Encyclopaedia of the Orient (2001).
- ^ "Hezbollah's former enemy now its public face", USA Today, USA Today (2006-08-01).
- ^ "Berri Crosses Lebanon's Red Line", Michael Totten, Michael Totten (2006-10-24).
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