Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt announced Tuesday that Syria could count on his support during tough times, saying that Mukhtara becomes an “indivisible part of Damascus” when crucial issues are at stake.
The announcement came during a visit by Syrian Vice-President Abdel-Halim Khaddam made to Jumblatt’s mansion in Mukhtara.
Khaddam said despite “different interpretations on several issues of secondary importance,” Syria and the Jumblatt family shared the same position in regard to the “main issues.”
“We always recall the important role our brother Walid has played in neutralizing
the May 17 Agreement,” Khaddam said, in reference to the aborted 1983 Israeli-Lebanese peace agreement.
The understanding would have been a “slap in the face” for Syria and the entire Arab world, Khaddam added.
“People are remembered by the positions they take, and that of Jumblatt’s was an important one,” he said adding that the Druze leader played “a special role” in fighting the agreement.
Though he said he would have been happy to meet with other Lebanese officials, Khaddam maintained that his Tuesday trip here was to visit “our brother Walid.”
In response to the statement, Jumblatt asked his guest for a signed autograph of a photo with him and his eldest son Timor, both wearing Palestinian keffiyehs.
Saying that in the past he has called for “fortifying and improving” bilateral relations with Syria, and for a strategic re-deployment of Syrian troops here, Jumblatt insisted that he never called for a “Syrian withdrawal.”
“I have called for a free, sovereign Lebanon but not at the expense of our relations with Syria or the Arab cause,” he added.
Answering a question about the “Lebanese file in Syria,” Khaddam said that there was no such file.
“The Lebanese file is with the Lebanese,” he said as he stressed the importance of Lebanese national unity.
“I hope that every Lebanese realizes that Syria is with Lebanon, with its security and its prosperity,” he said.
Answering a question about the assassination of Jihad Jibril, the son of Ahmed Jibril, secretary-general of the Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine ­ General Command, and the impact the killing could have on Lebanon’s security, Khaddam downplayed the events, saying that “accidents happen.”
“There is no fear about security in this country, security in Lebanon is better than it
is in industrial countries,” Khaddam said.
Khaddam also spoke of Palestinian resistance during his visit: “What is happening in Palestine is not against the Palestinians alone but all Arabs,” he said, adding that “Arabs should unite in support of the intifada to be able to face the Zionists.”
“Resistance will allow Arabs to put their feet on the right path to liberate the Holy Land,” Khaddam said.
Concerning conditions announced by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to allow for Syrian participation in a regional peace meeting, Khaddam said “they are not worth answering.”
“When Sharon is in the position to put conditions, this means peace is impossible,”
he said.
“We draw up our policies according to our vision and
our interests and in light of our own understanding of the Zionist plan, and not in light
of how others see it,” Khaddam maintained.
Jumblatt said it was enough to listen to Sharon and his
conditions to realize that a new May 17 Agreement is being worked on with the aim of undermining the intifada and
the resistance.
Khaddam, accompanied by Major General Ghazi Kenaan, the chief of Syrian intelligence in Lebanon, Deputy Speaker Elie Ferzli, and Baalbek-Hermel MP Assem Qanso, head of the Baath Party, had arrived in Mukhtara at 12.30pm.
They were greeted by a crowd that included, in addition to Jumblatt and the members of his parliamentary bloc, representatives of political parties including Hizbullah, Amal, the Communist Party, the Syrian Social Nationalist Party and the Baath Party.
About 100 officials and Chouf public figures were also at the reception for Khaddam, who remained in Mukhtara until 2.30pm.

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