Jumblat: Judiciary Needs to Take its Course in Tripoli to Avert Strife

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat stressed on Monday the need for the judiciary to take its course in addressing the situation in the northern city of Tripoli.

He said in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa website: “The judiciary needs to take its course in Tripoli in order to avert strife.”

“A criminal will remain a criminal regardless of his sectarian identity,” he remarked.

“A criminal should not be defended for any reason,” he noted.

He made his statements in reference to charges being filed against Arab Democratic Party Secretary General Ali Eid and his driver Ahmed Ali with with helping Ahmed Merhi escape justice.

Merhi is the suspected driver of the explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near al-Taqwa mosque in the northern city of Tripoli in August.

Eid's son, Rifaat, condemned the charges against his father and his summoning for interrogation, slamming the Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau as a “spy agency working against Lebanon's interests.”

He also declared that his father will not go to the ISF's office for questioning.

Commenting on negotiations between Iran and world powers over the former's nuclear program, Jumblat said: “Israel's pressure thwarted the talks that could have opened a new chapter in ways to seriously tackle regional issues, including those in Iraq and Syria.”

“A deal could have also led to Arab-Iranian dialogue that may have helped rearrange the situation in the region based on stability and resolving crises,” he added.

“It is needless to say that the failure of a comprehensive deal with Iran will lead the region towards an arms race that will further deep divisions and that will take place at the expense of the poor,” stated the PSP chief.

Israel benefited the most from the failure of the talks because sectarian divisions will remain and the Arab states' potential to develop will be weakened in light of their preoccupation with the arms race, opined Jumblat.