Jumblat Slams Jihad Calls, Says Hizbullah's Involvement in Syria 'Tarnishes' its Image

Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat said on Wednesday Hizbullah's interference in battles in Damascus would “tarnish its image,” pointing out that the Syrian people don't need Jihadists from Lebanon or any other country to back its revolt.

“As the situation in Syria is deteriorating and the Lebanese are plunging in this swamp, officials should reiterate importance of abiding by the dissociation policy,” Jumblat said in a statement.

Lebanese authorities have officially followed the policy to distance the country from the Syrian conflict. But they have also been reluctant to publicly blame either regime forces or rebel fighters for fire hitting villages and towns near the border with Syria.

Jumblat noted that the resistance is “misplacing it's rifle by supporting a regime that committed massacres against civilians and bombarding cities and villages and imprisoned thousands of people.”

He said that Hizbullah's meddling in Syria would tarnish the history of its struggle by aiding the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, which will be doomed.

He lashed out at calls for jihad in Syria by Lebanese clerics, considering that they will increase the tension locally.

“The Syrian people don't need from Jihadists from Lebanon or any other country to support their epic struggle,” the Druze leader stated.

He also urged the international community to end its inactivity and offer the Syrian opposition the required aid.

Two Salafist clerics Sheikh Salem al-Rafehi and Ahmed al-Asir accused Hizbullah of sending fighters to attack Syrian Sunnis, who make up the backbone of that country's rebellion.

They called on Monday for jihad to defend Sunnis in Syria.

However, Rafehi informed caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel on Tuesday that he is ready to withdraw his call for jihad if Hizbullah ended its involvement in Syria's civil war.

Fighting has flared in Syria's Homs region in recent weeks as the government has pressed its campaign to stamp out rebel-held pockets in the area.

Much of the heaviest fighting has raged near the Lebanese border around al-Qusayr, where activists said government troops backed by gunmen linked to Hizbullah captured the villages of Radwineyeh and Tel al-Nabi Mando.

Lebanon is sharply split between supporters and opponents of Assad, a legacy of decades of Syrian political and military dominance over its smaller neighbor. The split largely falls along sectarian lines, with Sunnis opposing Assad and Shiites backing him. That mirrors the divisions within Syria itself, where mainly Sunni rebels are battling Assad's regime, dominated by the Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiism.

Since it began in March 2011, Syria's conflict has fueled local tensions between the communities in Lebanon, with bouts of street fighting and kidnappings.

Hizbullah denies taking part in the civil war. But top Hizbullah official Nabil Qaouq said Monday that his group is "performing a national duty" toward Lebanese Shiites living in Syrian border towns and villages by supporting the "popular committees."