Druze leader in Lebanon, Walid Jumblat, , once an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime, denied that he had told Washington Post columnist David Ignatius in a telephone interview in 2006 that the U.S. went to Iraq and "can do the same thing in Syria." "I never called for the invasion of Syria by the U.S. army … this is crazy," Jumblat told As Safir in an interview published Tuesday. "Maybe I thought that the condition of the opposition in Syria could improve."
"I hope my clarification today would wipe out the offensive words against the Syrian people and the Syrian leadership," he added. The Druze leader rejected continuous incitement against Damascus y some Lebanese quarters, saying "I don't see a necessity for that particularly after the historic settlement began with Premier Saad Hariri's visit to Damascus."
About bomb attacks against anti-Syrian officials and journalists in Lebanon, Jumblat said that the series of assassinations continued after the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon. "Maybe someone wanted to pour oil on fire."
On Hizbullah, Jumblat told his interviewer that he only sees "solidarity with the resistance in Lebanon and with Syria because Israeli madness" could lead to war anytime. "That's why I say that we are with the Syrian leadership above anything else in our confrontation with the Israeli enemy," the Druze leader said.
