Hariri propaganda will fail: Jumblat
April 10, 2011 - 0:0
The leader of Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblat voiced his annoyance with the renewal of the political and media propaganda by outgoing Prime Minister Saad Hariri.
“Based on my experience with Hezbollah and the Shias, Hariri must understand the party's cultural and ideological structure.” He told the daily An Nahar on SaturdayThe MP revealed that during his latest contact with Hariri, he had requested him to reopen communication with Speaker Nabih Berri and the Hezbollah leadership, advising him against ending contacts with the Shias.
In addition, Jumblat criticized the March 14 camp's campaign against Hezbollah's ongoing possession of arms, saying that it will not yield any results.
“Hariri and others must realize that these arms are aimed at protecting the residents of the South,” he stressed.
On Thursday, Saudi-backed Hariri accused Tehran of meddling in Lebanon's affairs and warned that it was “gradually taking Arab societies hostage.”
“Lebanon and a number of Arab countries... are suffering politically, economically and in terms of security from blatant Iranian interference in the Arab world,” said Hariri, whose government collapsed on January 12 when the opposition withdrew from the cabinet.
Iran's foreign ministry, meanwhile, advised Hariri to “properly understand the teachings of the popular uprisings in the Arab world” and to avoid relying on the West, particularly the United States and Israel.
Hezbollah also denounced on Thursday the remarks made by caretaker Lebanese prime minister Saad Hariri against the Islamic Republic of Iran and said they were part of the U.S. plan to create sedition in the region.
New scandal is uncovered
Meanwhile, another leaked U.S. Embassy cable published exclusively in Al-Akhbar on Friday revealed that Defense Minister Elias Murr had initially rejected a Russian grant of 77 tanks and 50,000 of their ammunition, saying that the Lebanese are in the need for MiG jets, which then were regarded as the best way to combat and destroy Hezbollah.
According to Al-Manar, the WikiLeaks cable spoke of a December 16, 2008, meeting between Murr and his Russian counterpart Anatoly Serdyukov, during which the Lebanese official explained that Lebanon is in need of MiG fighter jets. The Russian official grew frustrated with Murr's request, eventually conceding to granting Lebanon 10 MiG-29 fighter jets for free.
Murr recounted the details of the meeting to then U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michele Sison. He explained that he had no choice but to accept the offer because if he rejected it, he would have been labeled as a traitor who is following an American agenda. He went on to say that the Russian offer could be used against Hezbollah, noting that it could bolster the March 14 camp's chances of winning the 2009 parliamentary elections, according to the cable.
The December 22, 2008, cable revealed that Sison had opposed the MiG deal to which Murr responded that he will not reply to the offer before the end of 2009