A Syrian military magistrate Monday issued an arrest warrant to detain MP Walid Jumblatt and handed it into Interpol, according to Syrian lawyer Hussam-Eddine al-Habash. "Interpol's office in Damascus has received an arrest warrant to detain - by force - Walid Kamal Jumblatt," Habash, an attorney close to the case told AFP. Habash said the warrant was "issued by the top military examining magistrate in Damascus and signed by the director of military justice, General Nabil Scouti.""The warrant will be sent today, Monday, by fax and addressed to the Beirut office" of the Paris-based international police organization, he said. "This measure was taken because of the lack of cooperation of the relevant Lebanese authorities," he said. Habash said the move came after the "failure to respond to the warrant issued on May 3, by Syrian military justice, despite a seven-day delay [for Jumblatt] to appear in court freely." On May 3, Jumblatt, the leader of the Progressive Socialist Party, was summoned by a Syrian military court to appear within seven days on charges of "inciting the U.S. administration to occupy Syria," Habash explained. Jumblatt is a key member of the country's anti-Syrian Parliament majority, which has accused Syria of involvement in a series of bombings, including the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
| Syria is still under the impression that Lebanon is a suburb of Damascus. |