Jumblat Says Clampdown on Protesters 'Shameful': Be Modest your Excellencies

Progressive Socialist Party chief MP Walid Jumblat slammed the authorities on Friday for using force against the relatives of servicemen taken hostage by jihadists in August, urging officials for some “modesty.”

Jumblat described the clampdown on the protesters at Beirut's Saifi area as “shameful.”

“It seems the state has lost its temper rather than seriously negotiate” the release of the hostages, he said on twitter.

Police used water cannons to break up the protest of the relatives of the hostages who blocked the Saifi road to demonstrate against the government's failure to secure the release of their loved ones.

The soldiers and policemen were taken hostage by Syria-based militants who overran the northeastern border town of Arsal and engaged in bloody gunbattles with the army.

The protesters “have only shirts on their chests,” Jumblat tweeted, adding “others block roads with their real and fictional security convoys.”

“Get some modesty your excellencies,” he told officials.

It was not clear to whom Jumblat was referring to. But earlier, Interior Minister Nouhad al-Mashnouq defended police and said the protest of the hostages' relatives would have paralyzed the country.

Jumblat, who is new on twitter but very active, hailed hours earlier al-Mustaqbal movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri, urging political parties to “respond to his initiative.”

“Saad Hariri tonight was a big statesman and profoundly concerned about Lebanon's stability and recovery,” Jumblat tweeted as the Mustaqbal chief made an interview at his Paris residence with LBCI TV on Thursday night.

“This not the first time, but in this time of history of Lebanon, his responsible approach is more than ever needed,” said Jumblat

“I hope that everybody in the political class, from all sides respond positively to his initiative,” he added.

Hariri responded to Jumblat during the TV interview, thanking him for “his words.”

“He is always working for Lebanon's interest,” the Mustaqbal leader said about the PSP leader.

Hariri told LBCI that he wanted a “serious dialogue” with Hizbullah to serve Lebanon's interest.

He said Speaker Nabih Berri and Jumblat were working to get the talks started.

Berri told his visitors on Thursday that dialogue will be held at the level of the two parties' representatives.

Hariri also ruled out a meeting for now between him and Hizbullah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

G.K.

H.K.