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Jumblat Sees a "Diabolic" Syrian Plot to Regain Grip on Lebanon

Druze leader Walid Jumblat predicts the campaign of political assassinations in Lebanon will continue until the parliamentary majority that opposes President Lahoud is dramatically weakened, allowing Damascus to recover its grip on the country.
Jumblat says members of Saad Hariri's parliamentary bloc and his own "Democratic Gathering" are targets of this "diabolic cycle," citing Gebran Tueni's assassination last week as part of the campaign.

"They killed Gebran Tueni and there are members of the Democratic Gathering and the Beirut Decision blocs on the list," said Jumblat. "They believe that once these people are liquidated, the scene in parliament would change."

"This portrays the Lebanese as an incapable nation, facilitating the return of the Syrian tutelage," he opined. "This is the diabolic plot."

The Druze leader and prominent lawmaker spoke in a television interview Sunday that was aired live on the Orbit satellite channel and Future TV. An Nahar and other Beirut newspapers published Monday carried extensive excerpts of his remarks.

He said Syria's Military Intelligence Chief Gen. Assef Shawkat has threatened Lebanese Army Commander Gen. Michel Suleiman after the latter abruptly blocked this weekend the so-called "military route" - the suspected gateway for weapons and intelligence personnel pouring into Lebanon from Damascus.

Asked how he learned of the threat, Jumblat noted that he has dealt with intelligence networks in Lebanon for over 30 years.

The Druze leader suggested that Chief U.N. investigator Detlev Mehlis was "terrorized" out of his job, even though the German prosecutor had insisted he quit Dec. 15 to return to his old post in Berlin.

"What is happening is far more dangerous than meets the eye," Jumblat said. "The Syrian intelligence is invading Lebanon."

Lebanon's sole means of defense is "the honest word," he said. "They have the bullets and the explosives."

Jumblat asked how come Syrian President Bashar Assad never posed for a moment of silence to commemorate Ex-Prime Minister Hariri in speeches that showered the Lebanese with "inflammatory rhetoric."

He ridiculed Syrian denial of involvement in Hariri's murder, noting that Syria's "iron fist" in Lebanon "could not possibly miss 1,000 kilograms of explosives floating in a truck, waiting to blow up Hariri's car, and supported by the most sophisticated electronic jamming equipment."

One of the reasons why Hariri was killed, said Jumblat, was the fact he had uncovered the fraud at the Al-Madina Bank, where $1 billion had been siphoned away to personal accounts of "high-ranking" Syrian officials.

When the Syrians withdrew in April, he said, they left behind "extensive and well-organized networks with lots of money available to them."

The fact that Gebran Tueni was executed about 9 hours after his return from Paris proved that the culprits were serious professionals, he added.

Jumblat called on Hizbullah to use its elaborate security apparatus to help protect Lebanese on the Syrian hit list.

Beirut, 19 Dec 05, 09:02


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