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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian authorities arrest the retired general, accused of orchestrating high-profile assassinations
2025-03-08
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]

The Internal Security Agency of the Syrian caretaker government announced on Thursday evening the arrest of retired Major General Ibrahim Huweija, the former head of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate, who is accused of orchestrating multiple liquidations during the rule of former President Hafez al-Assad, in the coastal city of Jableh.

According to the official Syrian news agency
... and if you can't believe the Official Syrian News Agency who can you believe?
 SANA, a source within the General Security Administration confirmed the arrest, stating: "The criminal Major General Ibrahim Huweija, former head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence from 1987 to 2002, has been detained in the city of Jableh."

Huweija is accused of being involved in "hundreds of liquidations" under the Assad family’s rule, including the 1977 liquidation of Lebanese Druze leader Kamal Jumblat. Reports indicate that Jumblat’s vehicle was intercepted in the town of Baakline, where he was shot and killed.

During a 2015 hearing before the Special Tribunal for Leb
...The Lebs maintain a precarious sectarian balance among Shiites, Sunnis, and about a dozen flavors of Christians, plus Armenians, Georgians, and who knows what else?...
, Kamal Jumblat’s son, Walid Wally Jumblat
...Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
, testified that the Syrian intelligence office in Beirut—under Huweija’s authority—was responsible for his father’s liquidation.

Born in the village of Ain Shaqaq in the countryside of Jableh in Latakia Governorate, Huweija hails from a region close to Beit Yashout, the hometown of Major General Mohammed al-Khouli, the first director of the Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate.

Huweija began his military career in the 1970s and later became one of Syria’s most influential intelligence officers.

In 1987, he was appointed as head of the Air Force Intelligence Directorate, succeeding al-Khouli. He remained in the position until 2002, when he was dismissed by President Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
.
Related:
Ibrahim Huweija 03/07/2025 Assad remnants launch deadly attacks on Damascus forces in western Syria, 16 HTS turbans toes up UPDATE: Vicious HTS response
Ibrahim Huweija 03/07/2025 Clashes between Assad supporters and police in Latakia

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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Leadership is sacrifice
2011-01-24
By Tariq Alhomayed
I have often heard men say that the King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques , King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, had a lot of respect and appreciation for the late Kamal Jumblatt. The King believes that Jumblatt held a stance which ultimately cost him his life, but he never compromised his position.

I recalled this after a recent presser, in which Walid Wally Jumblat
... who's been on every side in Leb at least four times...
t, the son of the late Lebanese leader, declared that he had changed his allegiances [regarding the nomination of the next Prime Minster], and joined forces with Syria and Hezbullies. This move was considered a complete reversal of his previous position, and thus there is a clear difference between the son and his father! Walid says that he wants to maintain civil peace in Leb, and this desire is both sincere and noble. It is a desire which I have repeatedly heard from Jumblatt himself, whether over the telephone or in person during my last interview with him in Beirut. However,
The infamous However...
 this is also one of the most important reasons to hold everyone to the International Tribunal, in order to put an end to liquidations and political crimes, and furthermore to put an end to the manipulation of Leb, and the constant threats to its unity, sects, and above all, its existence.

Regarding Jumblatt's recent statements, some believe that he has not completely closed the door on the March 14
Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys...
th Alliance, which he insinuated by saying he had joined Syria and Hezbullies. It could be that his deputies hold a different stance regarding nominations for the next Prime Minister. The irony is that Hezbullies and its allies, and those behind them of course, want to nominate Omar Karami as Prime Minster...the man who held that very post when Rafik Hariri was assassinated, yet today he is being put forth as a candidate to lead a government intending to abolish the Hariri Tribunal! I was thoroughly convinced by what Eli Maroni, a member of al-Kata'ib bloc, said the day before yesterday in our newspaper, stating "MP Jumblatt's move to stand with Syria and Hezbullies was imposed upon him by threats and intimidation. This happened as a result of the strong presence of armed Hezbullies forces of Evil between my town Qmatiye and Aley (all predominantly Druze areas). This has left the Lebanese in a state of constant anxiety, stemming from the fear of weapons". I sensed this much from sporadic conversations with Walid Jumblatt, and I have also heard such comments from those close to Jumblatt himself, and others who are in communication with him.

Thus someone might say Walid Jumblatt is changing his stance based on a rational motive; to protect his followers, the Druze. This is true, for it is the duty of a leader, any leader, to take into account the interests of those who follow him. However,
The infamous However...
 only taking the interests of supporters into account is an act of self-preservation, whereas it is also the duty of the leader to achieve a larger objective, namely the preservation of the Lebanese state. He must protect all components of Leb, including the Druze, but not at the expense of others. If Leb does indeed end up with a government led by Iran and Syria, as hinted by Samir Geagea,
... Geagea was imprisoned by the Syrians and their puppets for 11 years in a dungeon in the third basement level of the Lebanese Ministry of Defense. He was released after the Cedar Revolution in 2005 ...
 this will mean an end to the Lebanese state, and even an end to the Druze community. They will either be transformed into followers of the Wali al-Faqih, or handed over to the intelligence services.

To give Leb to Iran, with the blessing of the Lebanese leaders, is both cowardly and weak. [Lebanese leaders] ought to be reminded of the piece of history that I am recalling today, that Kamal Jumblatt was a brave man and uncompromising in his positions. Therefore we say to Mr. Walid Jumblatt: leadership is sacrifice.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrias Assad meets Wally Jumblatt
2010-04-01
[Al Arabiya Latest] Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt on Wednesday, the official Syrian news agency said, sealing reconciliation with one of his fiercest former critics in Lebanon.

Jumblatt had turned fiercely anti-Syrian after the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik al-Hariri and criticized Assad as responsible for the killing. But he has since said good ties with Syria were crucial to prevent Lebanon from descending into chaos and to preserve its Druze minority.

Jumblatt said recently that critical comments he had made about Assad were inappropriate.

The reconciliation was being mediated by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah.
"Sign here, Wally."
The enigmatic Jumblatt was a powerful warlord during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war, during which his father, Kamal Jumblatt, was assassinated after disagreements with Damascus. Most of Lebanon's Druze elders blamed Syria for the killing, but Damascus denied any role.

After the Hariri killing, Jumblatt spearheaded the strategy of the "March 14" alliance, which accused Syria of the killing. He was also one of the strongest critics of Syrian and Iranian backed Hezbollah, and its operations outside the control of the sectarian-based Lebanese state.

Hezbollah and its pro-Syrian allies fought Jumblatt's followers in a 2008 conflict that brought Lebanon to the brink of civil war, but their relations have since improved.

The Hariri killing sparked international criticism that forced an end to Syria's 29-year military presence in Lebanon. A special court set up in The Hague has yet to indict anyone for Hariri's killing, in which Damascus has denied any role.

Syria has been regaining influence in Lebanon since then, helped by its emergence from Western isolation and a subtler approach to its management of Lebanese politics and ties with Beirut.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Nabih Berri and the Owl of Revenge!
2010-03-28
Nabih Berri, the Speaker of Lebanese Parliament and the Shia Amal movement as well as other followers of Imam Musa al Sadr, were opposed to the idea of Lebanon being represented at the upcoming Arab Summit to be held in Libya under Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

It is said that following the uproar, Lebanon, egged on by Amal and its allies, decided to lower its level of diplomatic representation. There are claims that the Lebanese ambassador to Egypt will represent Lebanon at the Arab Summit as a form of protest against Colonel Gaddafi and Libya. Supporters of Imam Musa al Sadr have long accused Tripoli of being responsible for the disappearance of Lebanese Shia Imam Musa al Sadr in Tripoli along with his two companions Sheikh Muhammad Yacoub and journalist Abbas Badreddine in August 1978.

Since then, Colonel Gaddafi has consistently denied responsibility for the fate of Musa al Sadr and his two companions, whereas supporters of Muqtada al Sadr and the Shia Amal movement headed by Nabih Berri continue to accuse Libya of killing Imam Musa and his companions.

The story of Imam Musa al Sadr has transformed into a permanent Lebanese Shia "Holocaust" and another Karbala especially for Nabih Berri's group.

It goes without saying that what happened to Imam Musa al Sadr and his two companions is a heinous crime and the perpetrators of such an atrocity should be exposed and what happened to this political and religious leader should be revealed, whether he met his end in Libya or elsewhere. I have no objection to Nabih Berri's insistence and that of the Lebanese Shia who are part of religious and semi-religious parties to keep the case of Musa al Sadr alive. The truth is never lost because of the passing of time, or at least it never should be.

Back in the old days, the Arabs used to believe that the spirit of a murdered man continues to wail and weep until his death is avenged. They believed that a bird that they called "al Sada" [or the death-owl] would continue to hoot over the grave of a slain man whose death had not been avenged. The bird would continue to hoot endlessly until the slain man's death was avenged.

The death-owl of al Sadr cries for revenge in the form of Nabih Berri's fiery statements and repeated protests against Lebanon's expected attendance at the forthcoming Arab summit to be held in Sirte. Even long before the summit, the owl of al Sadr has been hooting for revenge. However, we are still clueless as to when this will happen.

However, are there not any other death-owls hooting for revenge in Lebanon, whether they are owls in the pre-Islamic mythical sense or in the form of prominent Lebanese political figures whose tragic deaths are yet to be avenged? Rafik al Hariri and Kamal Jumblatt are just two prominent examples. Unfortunately, the death-owl of Kamal Jumblatt, represented in his son and current Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, has stopped hooting. Al Hariri's death-owl of revenge is on the same track.

The only death-owl that continues to hoot, and has been doing so for three continuous decades is that of Imam Musa al Sadr. Perhaps the idea of revenge and the sanctity of blood is far more intense in the culture of al Sadr's followers than it is in the culture of al Hariri's and Jumblatt's supporters. Nevertheless, a tragedy is still a tragedy and the balances of power control everything, even the sentiments of death and the gruesomeness of the crime.

There is even envy in death.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Saudi paper accuses Syria of all Lebanese assassinations
2007-08-25
Riyadh-based Oukaz lashed out at the Syrian regime Tuesday accusing it of having plotted the assassination of Lebanese politicians starting with Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt. "For the last 30 years Syria has set up a clear-cut plan to systematically kill Lebanese leaders to incite strife among various Lebanese sects, and consequently reinforce its presence and role in Lebanon," the newspaper said

The Saudi daily has published in its Tuesday issue a special report from Beirut tackling the role of Syria in Lebanon since 1975. The daily described the current Syrian regime as "a regime of slaying and slaughter," and accused it of making use "of all possible means to restore its influence in Lebanon after their withdrawal in April 2005."

"The Syrian regime has long worked on inciting hatred and conflicts among the Lebanese and has currently created what could be labeled as 'death teams' to silence anyone who dares to speak against Syrian influence in Lebanon," Oukaz reported.

The daily blamed Syria for plotting all the assassinations of March 14 figure which took place following the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri. Oukaz also accused Syria of killing former presidents Bashir Gemayel and Rene Mouawad.

Tensions between Saudi Arabia and Syria escalated in the last week or so because of discord over Lebanon. Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Sharaa said last week the kingdom's regional influence was in a state of paralysis. Riyadh snapped back saying Damascus was trying to incite disorder and conflicts in the region.

Relations between the two countries deteriorated after the February 2005 Hariri assassination, which ultimately led to Syria's withdrawal of its troops from Lebanon after a three-decade military presence. "The Syrian regime has brought nothing but harm to the Lebanese as well as the Palestinians in Lebanon; fueling inter-Lebanese and Lebanese-Palestinian skirmishes in an attempt to boost its role in Lebanon," the daily said.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Lebanon border crossing : A living example of Syrian dictatorship
2007-06-22
Al-Joussiyeh border crossing: According to As- Safir newspaper, about three in the afternoon on Wednesday, the security guard of the Syrian border crossing was checking the documents of a Syrian taxi driver that was trying to enter Syria from Lebanon.

When the phone suddenly rang he took the documents with him, and rushed inside to answer the phone. He then ran back, returned the documents to the driver and asked him to leave quickly. He proceeded to lock the metal barrier that divides the 2 counties.

The Syrian driver was not allowed to enter the gate, and it was of no use protesting. He was told by the guard that he received an order to close the border crossing, and he could not violate the order. He told the driver “orders are orders”.

The Syrian taxi driver, who had a family with children with him, was outraged. “You mean we, the citizens of Syria, cannot enter our own country?”, asked the puzzled driver.

The driver started to sing and laugh loudly out of outrage, "I am banned from entering my own country … banned from enjoying the warmth of my family … banned from seeing my ailing mother! The Arab world is my country from Lebanon to Syria ... ha ha ha!"

One phone call was enough to keep hundreds of Syrians and Lebanese away from their families. News about the closure travels fast, and everyone was outraged. Many Syrian farmers had trucks full of produce that they wanted to sell in Lebanon, but now they have to either dump the goods, or return them to Syria to sell at deep discount and lose a lot of money.

Through this same border crossing hundreds of cars and trucks traveled yesterday, but not today because of an order. As the Syrian border security claimed, "orders are orders."

This is a living example of how the dictators of Syria operate. They issue orders in the most ruthless manner, without any regard to the people of both countries… Syria and Lebanon. That Syrian taxi driver was theoretically already inside Syria when he presented his documents, but he was turned away back to Lebanon.

This is the regime that dictated the lives of the Lebanese for nearly 3 decades.

This is the regime that forced the birth of the Cedar Revolution, right after the assassination of Lebanon’s former PM Rafik Hariri. The main demand of the Cedar Revolution was for Syria to get out of Lebanon.

This is the same regime that continues to destabilize Lebanon, using its allies such as Hezbollah, Amal, General Aoun and president Lahoud, whose term was extended by force under pressure by the Syrian rulers.

This is the same regime that was accused of being responsible for assassinating Lebanon’s anti-Syrian leaders starting from MP Kamal Jumblatt in 1977, to MP Walid Eido in June 2007.

This is the same regime that created, financed, and trained Fatah al Islam terrorists, and sent them to Lebanon to fight against the Lebanese army.

This is the same regime that has fought the creation of the international court to try the killers of Hariri and the other leaders of Lebanon.

This is the same regime that continues to illegally smuggle arms into Lebanon to destabilize the country.

This is the same regime that continues to facilitate travel for terrorists from Iraq to cross into Lebanon to destabilize the country.

This is the same regime that refuses to recognize Lebanon as a sovereign and independent state and refuses to demarcate the borders. The closure yesterday of the border crossing unilaterally and without consulting with Lebanon is a truly living example of the fact that this regime does not recognize Lebanon as an independent and sovereign state … it clearly shows lack of respect for its neighbor. The border crossing is after all shared equally between Lebanon and Syria.

This is exactly why many Lebanese want UNIFIL forces stationed on the borders between both countries.

This is exactly why many Lebanese are saying, “to hell with Syria and its borders, lets use the sea instead. The Phoenicians used the sea thousands of years ago, why can’t we use it today?”
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Geagea tells Hezbollah: The Cedar Revolution is our course
2007-02-26
Despite claims by Iran that its consultations with Saudi Arabia have led to decreasing tension in Lebanon, Hezbollah continued to trade accusations with the March 14 majority alliance that backs PM Fouad Siniora's government. Mohammed Raad, leader of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, has launched a vehement attack on Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea and head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt.

Raad was quoted by the daily an-Nahar as saying Geagea and Jumblatt were against the "principles set by (Ex-Premier) Rafik Hariri and Kamal Jumblatt." Hariri, father of parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri, was killed by a powerful blast that targeted his motorcade in Beirut on Feb. 14 2005. Kamal Jumblatt, father of Walid and founder of the PSP, was killed in an ambush on March 16 1977. Both crimes have been blamed on the Syrian regime, which is one of Hezbollah's main supporters.

Jumblatt did not respond , since he left for Washington Saturday to discuss the Lebanon situation with U.S. officials. However, Geagea responded quickly to Raad's rhetoric saying the Hezbollah-led opposition has launched a "counter revolution against the Cedars' Revolution in an effort to push the situation back to where it was during the past 15 years," when Syria's army and intelligence ruled Lebanon.

Geagea also escalated his counter attack, stressing that pro-government factions offer for a compromise cabinet that gives the majority 19 seats, the opposition 10 seats and allocates one seat for a neutral minister is a fair solution to all the Lebanese. "The problem is going to be a long one, Lebanon's fate will be decided during this crisis, but this does not prevent reaching provisional settlements," Geagea said.

He stressed that the "real solution (will be achieved) when Lebanon sets course. The Cedar Revolution Course is going ahead," Geagea stressed. Observers say Raad's remarks reflect an effort by Hezbollah and Iran to drive a wedge in the alliance between Hariri , Geagea and Jumblatt, an attempt that the parliamentary majority leader has been aware of and keen on foiling.

In an interview with France press, Geagea said we are ready for decisions that require courage…decisions that are for the sake of Lebanon…decisions that call for a solution to the current crises. However any solution has to include the International tribunal . Geagea reiterated his conviction that the formula of 19 + 10 + 1 offered for a cabinet of national unity remains the best and most logical solution. Geagea called the insistence of the opposition on a cabinet formula of 19 +11 completely unreasonable expectation.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Walid Jumblatt - the most fierce liberal in Lebanon
2007-02-15
By Michael J. Totten
I met the wizened Druze warlord and Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt during Hezbollah’s ongoing slow-motion putsch to topple Lebanon’s government.

No other high-profile “March 14” leader matches Jumblatt’s fierce opposition to Syria’s Assad regime, its Iranian patron, and its Hezbollah proxy militia. He spends most of his time in his castle at Mukhtara high above Beirut in the Chouf mountains, but he took time out between meeting members of the Socialist International at his house in the capital to meet me for coffee in his salon.

Jumblatt’s history with the imperial Baath government is a long and twisting one. His father Kamal was assassinated by Syrian agents during the civil war in 1977. The details of the assassination are shrouded in mystery even today. In the most common version Baath-aligned terrorists in the Syrian Social Nationalist Party pulled the trigger. Another (unreliable) version of the story goes like this, as told to me by a young Druze friend while we stood on the murder site in the Chouf: Kamal Jumblatt was ambushed on the forested road by two Palestinian gunmen. The Palestinian hit men reported to Damascus after the deed was finished. Two Syrian exterminators then shot Assad’s Palestinian agents and buried them in the desert. The two Syrian hit men were then murdered by yet two more Syrian hit men, all the better to cover the tracks of original and cover-up crimes.

I don’t know what actually happened. Syria’s decades-long assassination and terrorist war in and against Lebanon has always been fought, serial killer style, from the shadows. Diabolical theories about the precise methods of Syrian terrorism serve Syrian interests just as much as the murders themselves serve Syrian interests...
Long, worthwhile interview with Wally. Lotsa good insight on the Leb-Syria-Iran nexus.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Wally sez battle between good and evil in Leb's future
2006-12-29
PSP leader MP Walid Jumblatt has warned that government supporters will encounter the alleged Hezbollah-led "coup" in due time. "We have many steps (to undertake), and everything will be (carried out) in due time," Jumblatt told reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Fouad Siniora Tuesday. "Then, we will see who will achieve victory? The evil forces or the forces of love and good," Jumblatt added.

He said that his talks with Siniora focused on the confrontation of the "political, economical and cultural coup that has been imposed on us by the Syrian regime through its tools." In reference to Hezbollah and their allies including Senator Palpatine General Michel Aoun. "We must not forget the security coup and the Syrian regime never had or never will have mercy on us," Jumblatt complained.

He said the government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has succeeded in its steadfastness and world-wide support has "helped us confront the world of darkness, the Syrian-Iranian axis."

Jumblatt on Monday called Syrian President Bashar Assad the "Damascus tyrant."

"We tell them that this boy (Assad), who is controlling people's necks in Damascus and killing free people in Lebanon, there will inevitably be a Nawwaf from Beirut, Dahiyeh, the Chouf or the Bekaa, he might also be from Damascus or Aleppo," he said during the funeral of Salman Siour, Jumblat's personal security officer.

He was referring to Nawaf Ghazali, a Syrian who assassinated ex-Syrian President Adib Shishakli in Brazil in 1964. "If the tribunal is hindered, we will all be a Nawwaf," he said, in reference to the Special International Tribunal for Lebanon to try suspects in the murder of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri and related crimes. "No matter how long it takes, one of us will take revenge for the martyrs and the liberals, starting from (his slain father) Kamal Jumblatt to (Industry Minister) Pierre Gemayel," he added.
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold. Their bodies are real cold now.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria asks Interpol to help arrest Wally
2006-05-23
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.
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Aoun launches attack on Khaddam
2006-01-17
Michel Aoun, the Lebanese Christian leader, has launched a scathing attack on Syria's exiled former vice-president, accusing him of bearing responsibility for a string of assassinations. On Saturday, Aoun called on Abdel-Halim Khaddam, an ex-Baath Party stalwart turned whistleblower who last month implicated Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, in the murder of Rafiq al-Hariri, the former Lebanese prime minister, to publicly explain the killings.

"Khaddam was for a long time responsible for the Lebanese file, and during the time that he was responsible there were many very unfortunate events which were similar to Hariri's assassination," Aoun told Dubai television. Long the architect of Syria's military and political domination of neighbouring Lebanon, Khaddam was entrusted with the Lebanese file during Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. "There were the (assassinations) of two presidents of the republic, Bashir Gemayel and Rene Moawad, and there was the (Sunni) mufti Sheikh Hassan Khaled, MP Nazem Al-Qadri ... and Kamal Jumblatt," said Aoun. Aoun, who returned to Lebanon in May 2005 after 15 years in exile in France, added: "We had hoped that he would recall those days and let us know how these events took place."
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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Opposition members insist Jumblatt's life threatened
2005-03-17
Opposition members insisted Wednesday that the life of Chouf MP Walid Jumblatt, a leading member of the opposition was in danger. Speaking during a seminar held at the American University of Beirut (AUB), member of the Christian opposition Qornet Shehwan Gathering, Samir Franjieh said: "Yes, Jumblatt's life is threatened. That is why he is in his home in Mukhtara and not here with us today."

The seminar, organized by the communications club at AUB, was held on the 29th anniversary of Kamal Jumblatt's assassination, and attended by Wael Abu Faour from Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party and a large number of students. Franjieh said the opposition would not participate in any government until its demands are fully met. "We are calling for the formation of a neutral Cabinet trusted by the people to overlook the upcoming polls, and to oversee a true Syrian pullout. This is the only way to make sure the withdrawal of Syrian troops, and most importantly Syrian intelligence, has taken place completely," he added.

Franjieh also lashed out at President Emile Lahoud, saying he was part of the security system that brought the country to the crisis it is facing today. He said: "Since he was the head of the army, until he became the president, he has been a major partner in the rule of the security apparatus in Lebanon." He added that the opposition would demand Lahoud's resignation only following the election of a new Parliament in the light of free and fair elections. He said: "The reason we are not demanding his resignation right now is that the current Parliament is mostly formed of pro-Syrian MPs and they might choose someone who falls in the same category as Lahoud."
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