Jumblat Meets Hariri, Hits Back at Nasrallah over Nusra Remarks
Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Jumblat hit back on Tuesday at Hizbullah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, who said that people should not differentiate between the extremist al-Nusra Front and Islamic State groups.
He said via Twitter: “As long as there remains a single Syrian fighting the terrorist regime of Bashar Assad, then I support that Syrian.”
Nasrallah had declared during a speech on Monday: “We should not fool ourselves in differentiating between the Nusra Front and IS. They are both of the same essence, mentality, spirit, action, and goal.”
“We hope to find someone, especially someone in Lebanon, who would explain this to us,” he said in an indirect reference to Jumblat, who in October had refused to label al-Nusra Front as a terrorist group.
He instead stated that it consists of Syrian citizens.
Jumblat continued on Tuesday: “It appears that the media affiliated with the IS and the manner in which its executions are filmed are aimed at diverting attention from crimes being committed elsewhere.”
“Up until this moment, over two million Syrians have been killed or wounded and ten million have been displaced,” said the MP of the ongoing uprising against the Assad regime.
“This is my final answer and I hope your consciences can now rest,” he added to his followers on Twitter.
“This is my opinion and I know that it will not change the balance of power in the region, but my conscience is clear,” Jumblat remarked.
Later on Tuesday, Jumblat, accompanied by his son Taimur, visited al-Mustaqbal movement leader MP Saad Hariri at the Center House in Beirut.
Talks tackled “the political situations and the local and regional developments,” according to a statement issued by Hariri's office.
M.T./Y.R.
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