Jumblat Urges 'Patience' when Tackling Hizbullah Fighting in Syria, Says Assad is 'the Devil'
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat on Friday called for “patience” while dealing with Hizbullah's involvement in Syria's war, explaining that any confrontation with the party will lead to “falling in the trap of sectarianism.”
"A confrontation will Hizbullah will not lead to any result because Sunnis and Shiites must live together in Lebanon,” Jumblat said in an interview with the American cable channel CNN that was published on the network's website.
Noting that Hizbullah belongs to a “larger organization which is the Islamic Republic of Iran," Jumblat added: "Facing the party leads to falling in the trap of sectarianism that has started in Iraq and Syria and could extend to Lebanon.”
"We have to be patient and careful when dealing with this.”
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced on Thursday that 104 Hizbullah members had been killed in Syria since last autumn.
Hizbullah combatants have become increasingly involved in Syria's conflict, fighting alongside President Assad's forces.
Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah said before that his party's involvement in Syria's war aimed at defending 13 Syrian villages along the border where Lebanese Shiites live, and the Sayyeda Zeinab shrine, revered by Shiites around the world.
But on Saturday, however, the Hizbullah leader pointed out that Syria is “the backbone of the resistance, assuring that he will not let this bone break.
The Druze leader accused "the world and the United States of abandoning the Syrian people after making many promises, among them (Syrian President) Bashar Assad stepping down.”
“Assad will run for the the so-called (presidential) elections in 2014,” Jumblat assured.
“It is because the West, particularly U.S. President Barack Obama, lack compassion towards the Syrian people's future and fate.”
Jumblat explained: "No real aid was provided to the people of Syria except for some money from Arab countries, but no weapons were given whereas the Russian-Iranian alliance are largely supplying Assad with military and financial assistance.”
He said there is a conflict of interest between a Russian-Iranian axis on one side, and the U.S. on the other: “To preserve what is left of Syria and to provide the Syrian people with aid, there must be a conference that joins together the U.S., Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.”
Regarding his stance towards the Syrian jihadist al-Nusra Front, Jumblat denied saying that he supports the movement, explaining that he meant instead that he backs “anyone fighting against Assad.”
"The West said al-Nusra is the devil but no, I say Assad is the devil.”
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