Jumblat Warns of 'Traps Set by Syrian Regime to Deviate Attention from its Crisis'

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Sunday stressed “the need to reach a political solution to the problem” in unrest-hit Tripoli that would “spare the army a confrontation on Tripoli and keep it away from political disputes,” warning of “traps set up by the Syrian regime.”

According to a statement issued by the PSP, Jumblat contacted several security and political officials, urging “the release of Mr. Shadi al-Mawlawi and the addressing of the situation according to the legal norms, to prevent the recurrence of illegal arrests by sides that lack jurisdiction.”

Mawlawi was arrested on Saturday by General Security agents who lured him to an office belonging to Finance Minister Mohammed Safadi in Tripoli and captured him there. The General Directorate of General Security has said that Mawlawi was on his way out of the office and that he was being interrogated on charges of “communicating with a terrorist organization.”

Jumblat emphasized the importance of the army’s role “in preserving civil peace,” reiterating that “security solutions have proved futile anywhere they were tried and Syria is the latest example.”

The PSP leader also called for full coordination among the Lebanese security agencies through the exchange of information “before taking any political decision on any solution, because that would prevent the persistence of the major security chaos and the rise and growth of certain security protectorates.”

Jumblat urged authorities to put the Islamist detainees on trial as soon as possible “in order to wrap up this file comprehensively and permanently.”

Keeping the issue unresolved “violates the most basic legal and humanitarian rules which stipulate that detainees have the right to be put on trial,” Jumblat said.

Some Islamists have been detained since more than five years without trial, the thing that sparks protests every now and then.

PSP’s statement said Jumblat telephoned President Michel Suleiman, Prime Minister Najib Miqati, Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji, army intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Edmond Fadel, General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim and Hizbullah Liaison and Coordination Officer Wafiq Safa.