Lebanon's Cabinet issued a statement in support of Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday in response to an arrest warrant against the MP by a Syrian military court that was relayed to Beirut via Interpol. The warrant demands that Jumblatt be brought before a Syrian military court to face questioning on charges of having slandered and incited hatred against Damascus."The Cabinet asked Justice Minister Charles Rizk to prepare a study and present it to Parliament in order for the legislative body to issue a decision rejecting the warrants," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following the session. Cabinet's condemnation of the warrant was supported by all those present, including Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh, the only Shiite member on hand.
Parliament is the only authority that can rule in relation to the warrant because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity. Should it decide to reject the warrant, it will then be totally ineffective in practice. A source close to the judiciary said Parliament "will likely reject the [warrant] because Jumblatt has parliamentary immunity and because it is based on political reasons."