Lebanese Druze leader Jumblatt says his ties with Syria at "point of no return"

Harold's List
Source: Al-Safir website, Beirut, in Arabic 2 Dec 05

Text of report on remarks made by Lebanese Druze leader and member of parliament Walid Junblatt headlined "Junblatt says: 'My relationship with the regime of Bashar al-Asad reached the point of no return. Substitutes for the regime are there"; published by Lebanese newspaper Al-Safir website on 2 December

Leader of the [Lebanese] Democratic Gathering and Member of Parliament Walid Junblatt said that his relationship with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Asad "reached the point of no return".

He added: "We cannot achieve any settlement with this regime until the truth about the assassination of martyred former Prime Minister Rafiq al-Hariri has been uncovered."

Member of Parliament Junblatt dismissed the view that "fundamentalist and Salafi movements will prevail in Syria if the regime is endangered". He said he does not believe that there are no parties and men who can give Syria a new dimension.

In an interview to be published by Al-Shira today, Junblatt said: "Syria is not like Iraq and it will not suffer the chaos that Iraq suffered. There is no fear for Syria. If the regime falls, Syria will remain with all of its national and pan-Arab structures."

He charged that the Syrian regime "caused itself to lose all elements of domestic strength, both in Syria and Lebanon". He added: "The Syrian regime is attempting to benefit from regional and international developments to survive. However, I doubt that its attempts will succeed."

Junblatt spoke of "secret visits to Damascus made by the president of the republic, Gen Emile Lahhud, and some leading politicians in Lebanon in an attempt to set up a new front and pounce on the achievements of 14 March".

He called for "purging" the Lebanese security services of "mercenaries" of the Internal Security Forces and other agencies who operated under the command of [Syrian officer] Rustum Ghazalah.

He also called for activating the Central Security Agency and rejected Prime Minister Fu'ad al-Sanyurah's idea that security should be placed within the jurisdiction of the Higher Defence Council.

Junblatt said: "It is in no one's interests in the Council of Ministers to walk out of a meeting held to endorse a request to set up an international court and extend the mission of the inquiry commission [which investigates the Al-Hariri assassination]."

He added: "The Shi'i ministers may give their views but what is more important is to preserve national unity and remove all sectarian and confessional flaws."

Junblatt disclosed that a meeting will be held soon between him and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hasan Nasrallah. He said Nasrallah is a "guarantor of national unity and removal of any confessional flaws and a guarantor of Lebanon's Arab identity in the face of Israel".

Junblatt attacked those who criticize resistance operations. He described the proposal to link resistance operations to the Council of Ministers as ridiculous.