Nabih Berri (born 28 January 1938) was the Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon from 20 October 1992, succeeding Hussein el-Husseini. He founded the Shi'ite Amal Movement, slightly the largest Shi'ite party in Lebanon (it had one more seat in parliament than Hezbollah).
Biography[]
Nabih Berri was born on 28 January 1938 in Bo, Sierra Leone to two Shia Muslim Lebanese parents, and he went to school in southern Lebanon. In 1963, he graduated from the Lebanese University with a law degree, and he worked professionally as a lawyer. However, in 1980 he entered politics when he was elected leader of the Shi'ite Amal Movement, and his movement fought against Israel's occupation of South Lebanon while also calling for the mostly-Shi'ite Lebanese Army soldiers to defect to the rebels and fight against Amine Gemayel's government during the Lebanese Civil War. On 20 October 1992, after the Taif Agreement ended the war, Berri was elected Speaker of the Parliament, and he held the title for over two decades.