Bassem Sabeh (born 1 January 1951) is a Lebanese journalist and politician. He served at the

Parliament of Lebanon The Lebanese Parliament (, ) is the unicameral national parliament of the Lebanon, Republic of Lebanon. There are 128 members elected to a four-year term in Electoral district, multi-member constituencies, apportioned among Lebanon's divers ...

and was the editor-in-chief of '' As Safir'' daily between 1980 and 1990.

Early life and education

Sabeh was born in

Bourj el-Barajneh Bourj el-Barajneh () is a municipality located in the southern suburbs of Beirut, in Lebanon. The municipality lies between Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport and the town of Haret Hreik. In the June 7, 2009 parliamentary election i ...

on 1 January 1951. He hailed from a

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

family. He received a degree in journalism from the

Lebanese University The Lebanese University (LU; ) is the only state-funded public university in Lebanon. It was established in 1951. The university's main campus was originally located in Beirut, but a few satellite campuses were opened due to travel restriction ...

in Beirut in 1972.

Career

Following his graduation Sabeh worked for different newspapers and became a member of the Press Syndicate in 1979. He was its secretary from 1979 to 1996. He was named as the editor-in-chief of ''As Safir'' in 1980 and served in the post until 1990. He was appointed deputy-secretary of the Arab Journalists Federation in 1983, and his term ended in 1996. Sabeh was elected as a deputy from

Baabda Baabda () is the capital city of Baabda District and Mount Lebanon Governorate, western Lebanon. Baabda was also the capital city of the autonomous Ottoman Mount Lebanon that existed from 1861 to 1918. Baabda is home to the Italian, Japanese, ...

in 1992 and won his seat again in 1996. He was appointed minister of information in November 1996 which he held until December 1998. Sabeh was elected as a member of the Parliament on the list of the

Future Movement The Future Movement () is a Lebanese political party affiliated with the Sunni sect. The party was founded as a coalition in 1995 led by Rafic Hariri which was known as the Hariri Bloc but was officially founded in 2007. The party is led by Saad ...

in the 2005 elections. The same year he was a candidate for the Speaker of the Parliament. However,

Nabih Berri Nabih Mustafa Berri ( ; born 28 January 1938) is a Lebanese politician who has been serving as Speaker of the Parliament of Lebanon since 1992. He heads the Amal Movement and its parliamentary wing, Development and Liberation Bloc. Early lif ...

won the election. Sabeh also ran for a seat from Baabda in the 2009 elections, but he was not elected.

Views

Sabeh is one of the critics of the Shia political party

Hezbollah Hezbollah ( ; , , ) is a Lebanese Shia Islamist political party and paramilitary group. Hezbollah's paramilitary wing is the Jihad Council, and its political wing is the Loyalty to the Resistance Bloc party in the Lebanese Parliament. I ...

. He was close to Rafic Hariri.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sabeh, Bassem 1951 births Living people Information ministers of Lebanon Lebanese Shia Muslims 20th-century Lebanese journalists Members of the Parliament of Lebanon Lebanese University alumni Politicians from Beirut Future Movement politicians