Jumblat Says to Stand By Syria, Resistance ... Meets Nasrallah

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat Friday night discussed the latest developments in the country with Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, Hizbullah's mouthpiece Al-Manar TV announced.

Earlier Friday, Jumblat announced "the appropriate political position to confront the current phase and its complications, especially since the country has reached a dangerous crossroads after the Special Tribunal for Lebanon took on a purely political position, which has started to threaten national unity."

He stressed during a press conference at his Clemenceau residence “the party’s position alongside Syria and the Resistance in order for the political game to take its course away from sectarian divisions.”

“Despite the divide, we will hold on to dialogue, institutions, and the constitution,” he added.

The MP warned against straying away “from this democratic reasoning that would only increase tensions and threaten the main cause of maintaining the Resistance’s achievements.”

“I have repeatedly supported the Arab initiative and considered that it represents the necessary stand for the current crisis,” he continued.

“I tried to end the crisis with various leaderships and I headed to Damascus to meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on January 14 … During this excellent meeting, we reached an agreement to end the crisis and assert the points of the initiative,” he stressed.

“My position in the middle ground was aimed at ensuring communication between the disputed sides, but the obstruction of the initiative led me to take this position that I hope would pave the way for dialogue,” Jumblat stated.

Responding to Caretaker Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s statements on Thursday, the Druze leader rejected comments that the premier is being subject to a political assassination “because no one in Lebanon can eliminate the other.”

Jumblat also rejected some statements from the opposition that said that the period in Lebanon following the indictment in the investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri is not the same as the period preceding it.

The MP concluded his press conference by thanking President Michel Suleiman, Saudi Arabia, Syrian, Turkish, and Qatari efforts to end the political crisis in Lebanon, lamenting “the obstruction of these efforts by sides that were harmed by them.”