Xorraas-L-Çarz
11-02-2006, 03:37 AM
Jumblatt: 'I am ready to Help the Syrian Opposition' - 05-10-2006, 04:27 AM
Beirut, Lebanon - PSP leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, who has been charged in Syria with 'incitement against the Assad regime and defaming Damascus', has offered to help the Syrian opposition to establish a democratic regime.
"I tell the opposition that if it sees that I could serve its objectives in order to establish a democratic and free Syria, I am ready, if they want me to help," he told reporters Thursday.
Jumblatt was referring to the controversy raised by pro-Syrian politicians after he received a delegation Monday headed by the London-based spiritual guide of Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Sadr Eddin el-Bayanuni.
Jumblatt said he signed a petition presented to him by the delegation for the revocation of Law 49 in Syria. Adopted after the regime crushed Islamists in the 1980s, it stipulates the death sentence for those convicted of membership in the Brotherhood.
"When I signed this petition ... I think I was serving a Syrian Arab citizen seeking freedom. Any individual has the right of membership to any group or party he wishes.
"I do not hide my links with the Syrian opposition," he said, noting that he has also met in public with former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam who defected and went into exile in France a few months ago.
Khaddam, Bayanuni (L) and other exiled opposition leaders agreed in March to launch a new coalition with the aim of setting up a transitional government if the Damascus regime were to collapse.
Syria has been under intense Western pressure since the U.N. probe into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination last year found converging evidence of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence involvement.
Jumblatt has repeatedly accused Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies of Hariri's murder and has also called for a regime change in Syria. He also accused Syria of being responsible for the 1977 assassination of his father, Kamal Jumblatt, former president Rene Moawad in 1989 and several other Lebanese leaders.
On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri said Jumblatt, his close aide Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and anti-Syrian journalist Fares Khashan have been called to appear before a Syrian military court.
Jumblatt is a key member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority that blamed Damascus for a series of bombings, including the failed attempt on Minister Marwan Hamadeh's life and Hariri 's murder.
US ambassador to Beirut, Jeffrey Feltman condemned Syria's warrants issued against the Lebanese leaders.
Presidential candidate and MP Boutros Harb said that it was "impossible for Parliament to revoke the immunity of its MPs so that they can be prosecuted in Syria."
Ya Libnan asked in its editorial of May 4th : Is this a Syrian joke?
Hariri's murder triggered domestic and international protests that forced Syria to end its military presence and political domination of Lebanon that lasted for almost 3 decades. Syria pulled out its troops, but many accuse Syria of maintaining an intelligence network in Lebanon.
Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet
Beirut, Lebanon - PSP leader, MP Walid Jumblatt, who has been charged in Syria with 'incitement against the Assad regime and defaming Damascus', has offered to help the Syrian opposition to establish a democratic regime.
"I tell the opposition that if it sees that I could serve its objectives in order to establish a democratic and free Syria, I am ready, if they want me to help," he told reporters Thursday.
Jumblatt was referring to the controversy raised by pro-Syrian politicians after he received a delegation Monday headed by the London-based spiritual guide of Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood, Ali Sadr Eddin el-Bayanuni.
Jumblatt said he signed a petition presented to him by the delegation for the revocation of Law 49 in Syria. Adopted after the regime crushed Islamists in the 1980s, it stipulates the death sentence for those convicted of membership in the Brotherhood.
"When I signed this petition ... I think I was serving a Syrian Arab citizen seeking freedom. Any individual has the right of membership to any group or party he wishes.
"I do not hide my links with the Syrian opposition," he said, noting that he has also met in public with former Syrian vice president Abdel Halim Khaddam who defected and went into exile in France a few months ago.
Khaddam, Bayanuni (L) and other exiled opposition leaders agreed in March to launch a new coalition with the aim of setting up a transitional government if the Damascus regime were to collapse.
Syria has been under intense Western pressure since the U.N. probe into ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination last year found converging evidence of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence involvement.
Jumblatt has repeatedly accused Syrian officials and their Lebanese allies of Hariri's murder and has also called for a regime change in Syria. He also accused Syria of being responsible for the 1977 assassination of his father, Kamal Jumblatt, former president Rene Moawad in 1989 and several other Lebanese leaders.
On Wednesday, Speaker Nabih Berri said Jumblatt, his close aide Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh and anti-Syrian journalist Fares Khashan have been called to appear before a Syrian military court.
Jumblatt is a key member of the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority that blamed Damascus for a series of bombings, including the failed attempt on Minister Marwan Hamadeh's life and Hariri 's murder.
US ambassador to Beirut, Jeffrey Feltman condemned Syria's warrants issued against the Lebanese leaders.
Presidential candidate and MP Boutros Harb said that it was "impossible for Parliament to revoke the immunity of its MPs so that they can be prosecuted in Syria."
Ya Libnan asked in its editorial of May 4th : Is this a Syrian joke?
Hariri's murder triggered domestic and international protests that forced Syria to end its military presence and political domination of Lebanon that lasted for almost 3 decades. Syria pulled out its troops, but many accuse Syria of maintaining an intelligence network in Lebanon.
Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet