John Akouri to Receive Lebanese Deputies MP Ziad al-Kadri & MP Okab Sakr

(BIRMINGHAM, MI/USA)...Lebanese American Chamber of Commerce President & CEO John Akouri will receive Lebanese Members of Parliament, Their Excellencies Deputy Ziad al-Kadri and Deputy Okab Sakr upon their arrivals to the United States of America next week. Akouri will host a private luncheon in honor of the visiting MP's, to be attended by leaders within the Lebanese American community.

MP Ziad Nazem al-Kadri, 31, is from the town of Al-Bireh, Lebanon. He grew up in a purely political environment and is the son of martyred Minister Nazem al-Kadri. On September 22, 1989, his father, Minister al-Kadri, 73 years old and a Sunni Muslim member of Lebanon's legislature for 38 years was murdered in broad daylight as three assassins gunned him down when he left a barber shop on Beirut's Verdun Street. He died instantly, while the assassins, who escaped, also killed his driver and injured two passers-by. Lebanese legislators at the time were preparing to negotiate an agreement, in Taif, Saudi Arabia, to end the Lebanese civil war and set a deadline for Syrian occupation to end. The senior al-Kadri had just been critical of the Syrian presence and his assassination, though never investigated, was Syria's signal to other legislators not to press for a Syrian withdrawal. MP al-Kadri received his primary and secondary education at the International College IC and Continued his university studies at USJ where he received Bachelor’s degree in law and political science. . In 2005, Mr. al-Kadri established a law firm after having been a member of the Bar Syndicate, where he received training at the Rafic Ghanem Law Firm and remains active in many of the syndicate’s committees in Beirut.

MP Okab Sakr, 35, is a Lebanese journalist and politician from the Zahle District, who also lost his father before he was born and during the beginning of the Lebanese civil war. He participated in independent political movements and contributed to several magazines while pursuing degrees in political science, philosophy and sociology. He worked as a teacher for two years at Université Saint-Joseph de Beyrouth Islamic and Christian Studies Institute, where he contributed to the establishment and management of the Permanent Dialogue Center. Following his works as an assistant managing editor for Al-Balad newspaper, Sakr co- founded the New Opinion Workshop, which created the www.nowlebanon.com website. He wrote political editorials which then led to his career in journalism. However, his focus was always on political issues. With time, he eventually decided to shift from reading and criticizing politics to actually trying to instigate change through legislation. He won a seat in the Lebanese parliament on June 7, 2009, with opposition to Nabih Berri’s reelection as speaker and as one of few Muslim Shiites that supports the 14 March movement.