Jumblatt says surrender of Hizbullah’s weapons to army is ‘inevitable’

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Jumblatt says surrender of Hizbullah’s weapons to army is ‘inevitable’

Psp leader argues state of ‘open war’ already exists in Lebanon

By Maher Zeineddine and Nafez Qawas Daily Star correspondent

BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt said on Monday that reaching a comprehensive national defense strategy where arms are to be put under the Lebanese Armed Forces’ control is “inevitable.” In his weekly remarks to PSP’s mouthpiece, Al-Anbaa, to be published on Tuesday, Jumblatt said “there is not any country in the world that accepts to have undisciplined armed factions that open wars with enemies whenever they want and however they want, as if they are the only ones to run the country’s affairs.” Jumblatt’s remarks came in reference to Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah’s warning that if the recent assassination if top resistance commander Imad Mughniyeh meant Israel wanted “open war,” his group was ready. “We have liberated our land, defeated the Israelis more than once and fulfilled our national duty as good as it can be,” Jumblatt said. “We do not want to get involved in international terrorist or non-terrorist wars that could drag us to never ending conflicts on our territory.” “An open war can be averted through a defense strategy and through the handing over of the alive [Israeli soldiers] or the body parts to the legitimate authority in order to negotiate this file with the United Nations,” he added. Jumblatt said the Lebanese cannot accept that a certain party “avenges its martyrs in an open war that is to be launched from their country.” “Aren’t the prices which the Lebanese have paid so far to settle the bills of regional regimes enough?” he asked. According to Jumblatt, open wars already exist inside Lebanon through “emptying” institutions, paralyzing political life and occupying downtown Beirut, a reference to the sit-in held there by the opposition there since December 2006. Following a meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora on Sunday, Jumblatt criticized the “change” in Nasrallah’s latest two speeches. “There is something remarkable between Nasrallah’s speech delivered during Mughniyeh’s funeral and the latest one,” he said. “We were in an open war and now Israel is declaring an open war.” Nasrallah delivered a speech by video link to thousands of supporters taking part in a ceremony to commemorate fallen Hizbullah members on Friday. He said the “resistance will not stand silent” if Israel launches a war against Lebanon. “We will kill you in the fields, we will kill you in the cities, we will fight you like you have never seen before,” said Nasrallah. “Israel will be left without an army, and without an army Israel cannot exist.” Earlier this month, Nasrallah delivered another tough speech during the funeral for Mughniyeh – who was killed by a car bomb in Damascus . “There is a change between one week and another, is this change tactical? Is there anything inside their organization?” Jumbatt asked. “It is true that an open war exists but when we strengthen the state we eliminate Israel’s pretext of an open war,” he added.