Ahmad Karami


Ahmad Mustafa Karami was a Sunni Lebanese politician and minister of state in the cabinet of Najib Mikati.

Early life and education

Karami was from a powerful political family based in Tripoli. His father, Mustafa Karami, founded the National Youth Party in 1933. Former Prime Ministers Rashid Karami and Omar Karami were both his cousins.
Ahmad Karami was born in Tripoli on 29 August 1944. He held a bachelor's degree in economics and political science, which he received from the Beirut Arab University in 1970.

Career

Karami served as the director of Tripoli's port from 1973 to 1991. Then he became the deputy of Tripoli in the 1996 and 2009 general elections. He was elected on Saad Hariri's list in the 2009 elections.
Karami supported the premiership of Mikati in 2011 after the cabinet of Saad Hariri collapsed. Karami was appointed minister of state in June 2011 to the cabinet led by Prime Minister Najib Mikati. Mikati appointed him to the cabinet. Karami was one of the non-affiliated members of the Mikati cabinet. He was also among seven Sunni ministers in the cabinet.

Personal life

Karami was married to Zeina Al Nabhani and had three children. He died on 5 July 2020 at the hospital of American University of Beirut following a sudden illness.