Walid WallyJumblat
... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
on Monday noted that the latest "fear-inciting remarks on the rise of Salafist
...Salafists espouse an austere form of Sunni Islam that seeks a return to practices that were common in the 7th century. Rather than doing that themselves and letting other people alone they insist everybody do as they say and they try to kill everybody who doesn't...
or fundamentalist (Islamist) movements ... are being used as a 'scarecrow'."
"These remarks remind us of the old-new approach that calls for an alliance of minorities" in the region, Jumblat said, adding that such an approach "has destroyed Leb."
In his weekly column in his party's Al-Anbaa newspaper, the Druze leader hit back at Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rahi without naming him, warning that "linking the issue of arms to the issue of naturalization (of Paleostinian refugees) will keep Leb endlessly entangled in regional conflicts."
"Linking Leb's fate to the liberation of the Shebaa Farms and the entire conflicts in the region is rejected," Jumblat added.
He stressed "the importance of the Resistance
That'd be the Hezbullies, natch...
's weapons concerning national defense," but noted that it is also "necessary to come up with a defense plan, through which arms would be gradually incorporated into the Lebanese state, as stipulated by the Doha Accord, in order to strengthen the Lebanese state's capability to deter any possible Israeli aggression."
"Domestically, the best way to tackle the issue of naturalization would be through improving the temporary living conditions of the Paleostinians ... and ending the siege on the (Paleostinian) camps," Jumblat noted.
Tackling the Syrian crisis, the PSP leader reiterated that "only a political solution would pull Syria out of this dilemma," rejecting "any foreign intervention."
"The demand for freedom, democracy, pluralism and justice cannot be segregated," he added.