Omar Karami obituary

Any successes that Omar Karami, who has died aged 80, achieved during his two terms as prime minister of Lebanon were eclipsed by the ignominy of his fall from power during the “cedar revolution” of 2005. A million Lebanese people (around a third of the population) took to the streets of the capital, Beirut, to protest at the 29-year-long presence of Syrian troops on their soil. Karami, seen as Syria’s placeman, could not secure a cabinet and was forced to resign.

His political career had begun almost accidentally, in 1987, when a bomb planted on board a helicopter killed his elder brother, Rashid, who was then prime minister. Omar entered polititcs himself and in 1989 became Lebanon’s education minister.