Fadlallah and Jumblatt warn of foreign schemes

BEIRUT: Senior Shiite cleric Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah and Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) leader MP Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday stressed on the need to face US-Israeli schemes that aim to “weaken Lebanon’s domestic front and sow the seeds of inter-Muslim strife.” Jumblatt visited Fadlallah at his residence in the Beirut southern suburb of Haret Hreik, for the first time in more than three years. The talks, which lasted for over an hour, were attended by deputy head of the PSP Dureid Yaghi and Minister of State Wael Abu Faour. 

Following the June 7 polls Jumblatt held similar talks with political foe Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

The meeting Wednesday surveyed political developments that followed the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in 2005.

“We are glad to be able to renew political as well as intellectual discussions with Sayyed Fadlallah after a long pause due to political circumstances and the summer 2006 war [with Israel],” Jumblatt told reporters. 

“We share his [Fadlallah’s] political views concerning what is being plotted for the region,” Jumblatt said. 

In August, Jumblatt announced his departure from the March 14 Forces, describing his alliance with the coalition as “driven by necessity.”

However on Monday, Jumblatt took part in a large-scale meeting for the parliamentary majority at the residence of Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri in Qoreitem. 

Jumblatt said he attended the meeting to “express support” for Hariri in his so-far-difficult task of forming a national unity government. 

Jumblatt said Wednesday he remained part of the parliamentary majority, while adding that it was “high time the alliance revives its rhetoric and slogans.”

He also expressed hope that inter-Lebanese and inter-Muslim strife can be avoided. “We should return to the basics and assess the true challenges and threats that await us,” he said.

Fadlallah, meanwhile, accused foreign powers of running Lebanese politics. 

The cleric described Jumblatt’s recent stances as “important,” and hoped that others would follow suit. 

“It is essential that all groups join forces in order to prevent foreign meddling through politics and the judiciary into domestic affairs,” he said. 

“Foreign powers benefit from and extensively use tools such as politics, sectarianism, and racism to sow the seeds of strife among Sunnis and Shiites,” he added. – The Daily Star