Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt met this Sunday, December 22 in Damascus with the new strongman of Syria, Ahmad el-Chareh, whose nom de guerre Abou Mohammed al-Joulani, with whom he discussed the future of relations between the Lebanon and Syria. This is the first visit to Damascus by a Lebanese political leader since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime.
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With our correspondent in Beirut, Paul Khalifeh
Walid Jumblatt was the first Lebanese politician to speak with the new strongman of Damascus, whom he congratulated on the telephone on his victory over the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
He is also the first to go to Syria at the head of a large delegation including deputies from his parliamentary bloc and the spiritual leader of the Druze community in Lebanon.
Walid Jumblatt, who accuses the former Syrian regime of having assassinated his father Kamal in 1977, supported the Syrian revolt from its outbreak in 2011. He has never changed on this point, even if he is renowned for its versatile positions.
The half-hour meeting between Ahmad el-Chareh and Walid Jumblatt took place at the former presidential palace. The same place where the Druze leader was received by Bashar al-Assad and, before him, by his father Hafez.
During the discussion, the new Syrian leader wanted to be reassuring about his country’s intentions towards Lebanon, long coveted and dominated by the Ba’athist power. He assured that Syria will no longer have “ of negative interference in Lebanon » and will respect the sovereignty of its little neighbor.
Walid Jumblatt, for his part, insisted on the fact that Lebanese-Syrian relations must be organized on the basis of “ diplomatic ties “.
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