Omar Karami - Career

Career

Karami 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 then 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 28 February 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 10 March 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.

On 13 April, 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.

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