Naharnet Newsdesk - Jumblat: I Don't Want to Commit Suicide like Geagea and Gemayel, Neoconservatives Reject Cabinet Formation

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Jumblat: I Don't Want to Commit Suicide like Geagea and Gemayel, Neoconservatives Reject Cabinet Formation

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat has said some Maronite leaders in Lebanon have suicidal plans and accused neoconservatives in the United States of preventing cabinet formation in Lebanon.
"When some Maronite leaders in Lebanon adopt a political project," they make sure that it is fully implemented "even if that leads them to suicide," al-Akhbar daily quoted Jumblat as telling his visitors, including a Palestinian delegation.

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and Phalange party chief Amin Gemayel "represent such a case," Jumblat reportedly said, adding "I don't want to commit suicide like them."

He also expressed worries about attempts by Geagea and Gemayel to push PM-designate Saad Hariri "to adopt their political project," a move that would lead to a Sunni "isolationism" that would have bad repercussions on Lebanon.

"My presence near Hariri is necessary so that they don't push him in that direction," the Druze leader told his guests.

Turning to the United States, Jumblat said neoconservatives, who are holding onto major decision-making in the Obama administration, are planning to draw a new Middle East map and create new countries based on ethnic and religious affiliations.

Such plans aim at facilitating the establishment of a Jewish state and keeping Palestinians who became refugees in 1948 away from their land, al-Akhbar quoted Jumblat as saying.

He said he was worried about what was "being prepared for the country and the region" because Lebanon is the neoconservatives' "laboratory."

On formation of the Lebanese cabinet, Jumblat said that he contacted Cairo and inquired Egyptian officials about reports that they wanted caretaker PM Fouad Saniora as PM-designate.

"They told me on the contrary that they back Hariri. And in Saudi Arabia, they said they want a national unity cabinet and support Hariri" in forming a government, Jumblat told his guests.

The Druze leader also accused the neoconservatives of rejecting formation of the unity cabinet in Lebanon.

"The American team is cooperating with Arab and Lebanese sides to prevent cabinet formation by rejecting Syrian-Saudi agreement that Lebanon needs at this stage," Jumblat stressed.

On Saturday afternoon, the Progressive Socialist Party's press office issued a statement denying Jumblat's quotes as reported in al-Akhbar daily.

The statement said that falsifying Jumblat's words aimed at "targeting all attempts to form a National unity Cabinet and provoking confusion in the ranks of the parliamentary majority."

"In this occasion, Jumblat renews his trust in PM-designate Hariri to form a cabinet capable of meeting the great challenges," the PSP's press officer stated and re-confirmed the Druze leader's appraisal of Arab countries supporting Lebanon.

Regarding the American policy in the area, the PSP's statement clarified that Jumblat "has lately restricted his comments" on Mitchell's mission in the Mideast and "to which extent it has accomplished a breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict."

Beirut, 19 Sep 09, 09:04


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