PSP Chief Calls on Politicians to Safeguard Army

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat urged the Lebanese on Sunday to maintain their national unity, calling on politicians to grant the army the “needed political cover.”

“We should maintain our national unity and back the army, which is facing a brutal battle,” Jumblat said from Khaldeh, south of Beirut, the first stop of his tour in the area.

He pointed out that politicians should grant the army the needed political cover in its fight against terrorism.

Iran, the United States of America, Saudi Arabia and other countries had offered aid packages for the Lebanese army.

The grants comes as the Lebanese army is battling jihadists from al-Qaida-linked al-Nusra Front and the Islamic State group, who are entrenched on the outskirts of the northeastern border town of Arsal on the porous Syrian-Lebanese border.

Jumblat also called for reconciliation, considering that the Lebanese share a "common fate."

In September, the PSP leader visited the towns of Ain Ata, Rashaya and other villages in the West Bekaa.

The Druze chief was accompanied by his son Timor, PSP's media official Rami al-Rayyes and MP Akram Shehayeb.

During his visit to Aramoun, Jumblat stressed that “only dialogue could avert further sectarian tension, safeguard the country from threats and protect the army.”

“We can discuss all crises in a democratic manner for we will remain as one family.”

He rejected "the presence of Sahwa leaders,” calling for openness that could lead to dialogue.

On Saturday, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq said during a ceremony commemorating the second anniversary of General Wissam al-Hassan's assassination that al-Mustaqbal movement will not accept that they be turned into "Sahwa leaders."

He was referring to the Sahwa network of Sunni tribal fighters created by the U.S. in 2005-2006 to combat al-Qaida in Iraq. Sunni tribes are now also contributing to the fight against the ruthless Islamic State jihadist group which has seized vast swathes of Iraqi and Syrian territory.

“We won't accept that we be turned into Sahwa leaders specialized in imposing security on a part of the Lebanese as the other part enjoys 'partisan immunity',” Mashnouq said, in an apparent reference to Hizbullah.