Jumblat Urges Assad to Implement 'Previous Resolutions on Protecting Right to Peaceful Protest'

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat has urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to "continue implementing his previous resolutions on protecting the right to peaceful protest" in unrest-hit Syria.

"As Syria's friend and ally … I urge President Assad to continue implementing his previous resolutions on protecting the right to peaceful protest and expression and to quickly launch a broad dialogue with the various political, syndical, social and economic sectors and the representatives of the civil society to discuss the means of overcoming this critical political period," Jumblat said in his weekly column in his party's mouthpiece Al-Anbaa newspaper.

He noted that the soaring tensions in Syria can be alleviated by "opening a serious probe and holding those responsible (for the unrest) accountable, whether they are security, military or administrative officials or conspirators against Syria's stability and security."

Jumblat also called for "engaging in a responsible dialogue in order to address the political and popular demands and find ways to implement what's rightful and reasonable of them, in a manner that would allow Syria to restore stability and preserve its national unity and Arab and regional roles."

The PSP leader called on Syria to "immunize its defiant position in the face of the Israeli scheme, amid the major changes the whole Arab region is going through."

"In my name, and in the name of the residents of Mount Lebanon, I extend my warmest condolences to Syria's leadership, army and people and to the relatives of those who lost their lives in this difficult period," Jumblat added.

He hoped Syria would overcome the current stage with the highest level of consolidation and unity, "in a manner that reconciles between the fulfillment of the legitimate demands and the preservation of its unity, political stability and security."