Nabih Berri

Position: Speaker of the parliament

Biography: Nabih Berri is the speaker of the parliament and has led the Amal Movement, the most significant Shia political organisation in Lebanon after Hezbollah, since 1980. Born in Sierra Leone, he studied law at the Lebanese University in Beirut and became a lawyer at the Court of Appeals after graduating in 1963. Berri joined the Arab Nationalist Movement in the 1960s.

He worked for US carmaker General Motors in the early 1970s and had a stint at their American operations in Detroit from 1976 to 1978. In 1984, he was appointed minister of state for the rebuilding of South Lebanon.

He went on to serve as minister of electrical and hydraulic resources, and later as minister of housing and co-operatives, as well as and minister of state. Berri was elected speaker of the National Assembly in November 1992, a position he has held to this day.

Contact: www.lebanongovernment.org