Syria Today | Lebanon’s Jumblatt calls for new start with Damascus

Lebanon’s Jumblatt calls for new start with Damascus

Lebanese leader Walid Jumblatt, a long-time foe of Syria, has been given the green light to visit President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, according to a statement issued by Hezbollah on March 15. The welcome comes after the Progressive Socialist Party leader expressed regret for previous “indecent comments” he made about the Syrian president.

In an interview with the Al-Jazeera Arabic-language television channel on March 14, Jumblatt said his remarks in a 2007 speech delivered on the second anniversary of the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri were “inappropriate and unreasonable” and made “at a time of internal tensions and extreme division within Lebanon”.

“My remarks were indecent, out of context and go beyond the political manners,” the Lebanese MP said. “In order to consolidate Lebanese-Syrian relations, between the two peoples and two states… can we now overlook this moment and open a new page?”

A statement issued by Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah on March 15 said Damascus would welcome the Lebanese leader to the Syrian capital to meet with Assad.

Jumblatt has long been one of Syria’s fiercest critics, accusing the country of killing his father Kamal Jumblatt in 1977 and of being behind Hariri’s assassination, allegations Syria has always denied.

Last August, however, the 60-year-old leader broke away from Lebanon’s US-backed ruling coalition and realigned himself with Hezbollah, supported by Syria and Iran.

In an interview with the AFP news agency last January, Jumblatt said he was getting close to reconciling with Syria and needed to make one last effort.

“I believe that three-quarters of the road to Syria has opened up,” he said. “What remains is the final gesture which depends on the right moment.”