Nabih berri was born on January 28, 1938 into a Shi'i Muslim family living in Freetown, Sierra Leone. IN the 1940's his family moves back to Lebanon, and settles in the town Tibnin in southern Lebanon. He continued his secondary education in Makassed and Ecole de la Sagesse, in Beirut. Mr. Berri graduated from the Lebanese University with a degree in Law, and got his masters degree from the "Faculte de Droit" in Paris. He started his career as a lawyer in 1963, was also president of Lebanese Students Movement as well as Lebanese Universities Union. Despite his political ambitions, Berri was sidelined by the traditional Shi'ite establishment, headed by then-parliament speaker Kamel al-Asa'ad, who refused to let Berri run on his electoral list in the 1968 and 1972 elections. Berri developed an acute hatred of Asa'ad that would reemerge during the war. In the early 1970's, Berri worked as a lawyer for General Motors (in Beirut). Berri lived in Detroit from 1976-1978 along with his first wife. Berri also served as Attorney for Musa al-Sadr's Amal movement during the 1970's. After Sadr's disappearance in 1978 while on a trip to Libya, he returned to Lebanon to stake his claim for leadership of Amal. After Hussein al-Husseini's brief tenure as leader of Amal, Berri took over in April 1980. Between 1979 and 1982, the Amal movement was involved in fierce fighting with the PLO groups.
In 1982 June: Berri urges Shi'i militia into strong opposition against the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon. In May 1983, President Amin Gemayel strikes a peace treaty with Israel, something Berri strongly opposes.
In February 1986, Berri calls out to Muslim troops in the Lebanese army to defy president Gemayel. This was a reaction to Gemayel's order of razing Shi'i quarters of Beirut. Berri's manifestation of power had as the result that Gemayel now started to deal with Berri directly on Shi'i questions. i's quest to join the political establishment received a boost on February 6, 1984, when his militia participated in driving the Lebanese army out of West Beirut.
ater that year, Berri was appointed Minister of State for the Rebuilding of South Lebanon. He was later appointed Minister of Justice, Electrical and Hydraulic resources.
In the mid-1980's Damascus relied heavily on Berri to counter the remilitarization of Palestinian refugee camps by Arafat's Fatah movement. In May 1985, Amal fought a two-year bloody war with the pro-Arafat Palestinian camps in Beirut and south Lebanon, indiscriminately killing thousands of people. In September 1985, Berri and two other pro-Assad militia leaders (Walid Jumblatt and Elie Hobeiqa) signed the Syrian-brokered Tripartite agreement that contained lengthy and detailed provisions calling for "complete and firm coordination" between Syria and Lebanon on "all issues--Arab, regional, and international." The Lebanese Army was to be "rehabilitated with Syrian assistance" and instilled with the capability of "distinguishing the real enemy from the real friend." The public outcry among Lebanese Christians (and the equally fierce, if less public, opposition of Sunni Muslims) led President Gemayel to reject the accord.
Berri's increasingly autocratic tendencies and subservience to Damascus led to a dramatic decline in support for Amal within the Shi'ite community. Hasan Hashim, a charismatic, popular figure who served as Berri's deputy, resigned in 1986 to protest his "undemocratic" behavior. Top military commanders such as Mustafa al-Dirani, Aql Hamiyyah, and Zakariyya Hamza also abandoned the militia. Meanwhile, the rival Shi'ite Hezbollah militia proved to be more adept than Berri in recruiting new members. The net result was to make Berri even more dependent upon the Syrian regime. In fact, fearing for his own safety following skirmishes with other groups, Berri left the country and took refuge in Damascus.
In early 1987, Berri made a stupendous blunder by ordering his militia forces into action against Druze and other pro-PLO militia forces entrenched in West Beirut. The tide quickly turned against him. Within five days, the headquarters of Amal in the Murr Tower were overrun, the PSP captured the Hamra district, and two detachments of Amal militiamen were cut off and surrounded. On February 22, 1987, Syrian forces stormed into West Beirut to prevent Amal's complete defeat, closely followed by Berri, who had spent nine months in exile in the Syrian capital. Berri soon turned his attention to Hezbollah, which over the course of the next several months proceeded to drive Amal forces out of several positions in the southwestern suburbs of Beirut. Again, Syria intervened to save its militia proxy, calling on both sides to withdraw from the contested areas. Hezbollah, which had lost twenty-three fighters in clashes with Syrian forces in West Beirut earlier in the year, wisely complied with the order and Syrian forces occupied the area.
In the late 1980's, Berri supported the efforts of Syria to oust the constitutional government headed by Interim Prime Minister Michel Aoun. Berri endorsed Syria against Aoun despite the strong support that Aoun enjoyed in the Shi'ite community. In 1992, Berri is elected Speaker of the parliament.

Nabih Berri,
born 1938