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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Jumblatt: Lebanese must cool sectarian tensions |
| 2008-08-29 |
| Sectarian violence in north Lebanon could provide Syria with a new pretext to intervene in its neighbor, anti-Syrian Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said on Thursday. Jumblatt also stressed the need for reconciliation among followers of rival leaders whose power struggle pushed the country to the brink of a new civil war in May. Steps taken to that end were "not enough", even if Lebanon was far more stable now than four months ago, Jumblatt told Reuters in an interview. A protracted power struggle between Jumblatt's "March 14" alliance and a rival coalition led by the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah was ended in May by a Qatari-mediated settlement. The deal drew both camps into a unity government and led to the election of a new president. But leaders have yet to deal with sectarian tensions unleashed by a power struggle that led to armed conflict between Sunnis, Shi'ites and Druze. Sectarian tension still hangs over the northern city of Tripoli, where more than 20 people have been killed since June in clashes between gunmen from the city's majority Sunni community and Alawites who have close ties to Syria. Syria, which is governed by the Alawite Assad family, dominated Lebanon until 2005. The assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri that year triggered pressure on Damascus to withdraw troops that had first entered the country in 1976. "Why should we give the Syrians a pretext to intervene like in '76 when some Christian villages were surrounded ... and the Christians went to Damascus and asked for Syrian protection? It could happen again now with the Alawites," Jumblatt said. "They feel like a minority and they know they could be protected," he said, speaking of "confessional cleansing" in Tripoli, where Sunni politician Saad al-Hariri, a Jumblatt ally, yields wide influence. Syria has said it has no intention of being drawn into the north Lebanon conflict. |
| Posted by:Fred |