Skip to main content

Jumblatt: no solution in Syria with Assad in power

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt talked about the Syrian war and the Lebanese soldiers abducted by Jabhat al-Nusra in an interview with Al-Monitor.

Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt speaks during a news conference at his residence in Beirut, January 21, 2011. Jumblatt said Friday his group was committed to support Hezbollah ahead of parliamentary talks Monday to pick a new prime minister. REUTERS/ Sharif Karim    (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXWVKI
Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt speaks during a news conference at his residence in Beirut, Jan. 21, 2011. — REUTERS/ Sharif Karim

If there’s a name to be given to Walid Jumblatt, one of Lebanon’s veteran politicians and once a warlord during the 1975-90 civil war, he might be called the survivor. Jumblatt, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, is known in Lebanon for being the joker of politics — unpredictable, yet acceptable to his rivals, at least during the last half-decade.

He sits with both Future Movement leader Saad Hariri and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah; he is against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but a good friend of the Russians; he doesn’t admire former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and the US policies in the region, though he is ready to cross the Mediterranean and the English Channel to dine with former US Undersecretary Jeffrey Feltman in one of London’s spicy Indian restaurants.

Subscribe for unlimited access

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more

$14 monthly or $100 annually ($8.33/month)
OR

Continue reading this article for free

All news, events, memos, reports, and analysis, and access all 10 of our newsletters. Learn more.

By signing up, you agree to Al-Monitor’s Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. Already have an account? Log in