Fouad Siniora, Prime Minister

Place and Date of Birth: Born in Sidon, Lebanon, in 1943; Son of Abdul Basset Siniora and Souad Sabbagh.
Sect: Sunnite
Marital status: Married to Huda Bsat with three children, Wael, Zeina, and May.
Education: Bachelor in Business Adminstartion (1967), Masters in Business Administration (1970), American University of Beirut.
Professional Background: Lecturer at the American University of Beirut (1971-76), the Lebanese University (1975-76), the Executive Training Center of the First National City Bank (1971-75). Assistant Manager at the First National City Bank (1967-72). President of the Banking Control commission, Central Bank of Lebanon, 1977-1982. Chairman and General Manager of Banque de Ia Mediterranee (1983-1992) and the Saudi Lebanese Bank (1986-1992).
Political Career: Minister of State for Financial Affairs during Hariri's first three cabinets (31 Oct 1992 - 25 May 1995), (25 May 1995 - 6 Nov 1996), (7 Nov 1996 - 4 Dec 1998). Minister of Finance in Hariri's fourth cabinet (October 26, 2000- April 15, 2003). Minister of Finance in Hariri's fifth cabinet (April 17, 2003 - October 26, 2004). Appointed on July 19, 2005 to head the first government free of Syrian troops. Appointed on Wednesday May 28, 2008, to form new government after rival Lebanese leaders struck a deal at Doha, Qatar
Contact Information:
Private: Beirut Sadat Tower, Sadat Street. Residence, Bliss Street, Beirut, Lebanon.
Official: Grand Serail, Zokak Al Blat, Beirut, Lebanon

Biograpghy

Fouad Siniora, appointed on July 19, 2005 to head the first government free of Syrian troops, was the faithful right-hand man of slain ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in both business and politics.

Overseer of Hariri's huge Arab banking interests, Siniora also ran the nation's finances in all five of the governments the late tycoon headed before his assassination in a February bomb blast on the Beirut seafront.

He brings to the prime minister's office an intimate knowledge of international financial institutions. A fluent English-speaker and business graduate of the American University in Beirut, Sinora took charge of sucessive rounds of negotiations with Lebanon's foreign creditors.

But critics charge that he is also to blame for the 35 billion dollar debt the country built up during his successive terms of office between 1992 and 1998, and 2000 and 2004.

He was accused of mismanagement, corruption and wasting public funds in 1998 when Hariri was out of office and out of favour.

Despite his credentials, Seniora's appointment as premier may be disappointing for some. Seniora was widely criticized by many because of his tendency to impose taxes to generate public money and reduce a budget deficit.

Several years ago, he was accused of mismanagement and was questioned for signing a US$52 million contract with an Italian firm to build a garbage incinerator.

Of that money, only US$15 million was paid, but without government approval, and the incinerator was never built. Seniora denied any wrongdoing and the charge against him was later dropped.

The charge against Seniora came at a time of political infighting between Hariri and President Emile Lahoud, and the Hariri camp accused Lahoud at the time of waging a campaign to discredit Hariri by fabricating corruption charges against his supporters.

In June 2003, Seniora was banned from entering the United States for giving money to a society accused of links to Hizbullah. As cabinet minister he was often at odds with Hizbullah, which sharply criticized his fiscal and taxation policies.

But following his boss's triumphant return to power in 2000, he regained the finance portfolio and three years later was unanimously acquitted of the charges against him by fellow lawmakers at a special session of parliament.

Born like Hariri into a Sunni Muslim family in the southern port city of Sidon, the 62-year-old Siniora was a friend of the late tycoon for some 45 years, benefiting from his meteoric rise from rags to riches.

After a spell working for Citibank and teaching at his alma mater in Beirut in the 1970s, Siniora worked for the central bank's audit committee before being headhunted by his friend in 1982 for top positions in his rapidly growing empire.

Currently he serves as chairman and managing director of Groupe Mediterranee, which groups four Hariri-owned banks -- Banque de la Mediterranee, Saudi Lebanese Bank, Allied Bank and Banque de la Mediterranee Suisse.

He also serves on the board of Arab Bank, one of the largest in the region.

A champion of market economic policies often derided in Lebanon as ultra-liberal, Siniora is nonetheless also criticised as a taxer of the middle classes, having introduced value-added tax and other measures to service the mountainous national debt.

"He understands completely the plight of the middle classes but his goal is to improve the nation's finances," one close aide told AFP. "He does not court popularity and has never sought to be a charismatic leader."

A loyal servant of Hariri's 35-year-old son and heir, Saad, since his father's death, Siniora used his first announcement after his appointment to pledge to take up where "the martyr prime minister" had left off.

Born into a Sunni Muslim family in the southern port city of Sidon, Siniora is married with three grown children and is a practising Muslim. A devotee of Arabic literature, he writes poetry and is a fan of classical music.

Financier turned politician

BEIRUT- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, who is set to head the new cabinet under new President Michel Suleiman, spent much of his first term in office embroiled in a face-off with the Hezbollah-led opposition.

Described as “tough” and a “good guy” by US President George W Bush but a US puppet by his foes, Siniora managed to survive a tumultuous three years in office despite being effectively confined to his Beirut headquarters by an opposition protest.

He has been heading a caretaker government since Suleiman’s election on Sunday, May 25, 2008.

Siniora, 64, oversaw the huge banking interests of ex-premier Rafiq Hariri – and ran the nation’s finances in all five governments led by the late tycoon – before Hariri was killed in a February 2005 bomb blast on the Beirut seafront. He was then thrust into the political limelight by Hariri’s son and political heir Saad Hariri, who first nominated him as premier.

Since then he has held on to the reins despite a blistering war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in 2006, a string of attacks on anti-Syrian critics, a deadly standoff with Islamist militiamen and a paralysing political feud.

But his biggest challenge came on May 7, 2008 when Hezbollah staged a brazen takeover of mainly Sunni west Beirut after the government adopted measures against the Shia Muslim militant group that were eventually rescinded.

Siniora, who enjoys the backing of Sunni-ruled Arab states such as regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia as well as the West, has largely kept a statesmanlike calm in the rough and tumble of Lebanon’s divisive politics and sectarian unrest.

Siniora formed his first cabinet in July 2005 after anti-Syrian MPs swept legislative polls that later saw politicians from the Damascus- and Tehran backed Hezbollah take a seat in the cabinet for the first time.

But he faced an uphill battle against the opposition, which pulled out its ministers in November 2006 in a move that set off the latest political crisis. Hezbollah gained ground after its 34-day war with Israel in which 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, were killed.