Jumblatt warns Syria’s Druze of plot to stir strife

Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblatt warned against a Syrian regime plot to drag Syrian Druze into a conflict with rebels and members of other sects in a bid to reduce the opposition’s pressure on the government. The Druze leader’s remarks came shortly after the second car blast in a week targeted a predominantly Druze and Christian suburb of Damascus. “This is the second time that the area of Jaramana in Syria witnessed a car bombing in an attempt, now clear, to scare people and push them to accept the idea of taking matters into their hands, when it comes to self-protection, and acquire arms,” Jumblatt wrote Monday in his weekly editorial for PSP’s Al-Anbaa newspaper. “It is a clear plot by the Syrian regime and some shortsighted Druze figures in collaboration with some prominent figures in [the predominantly Druze] Jabal al-Arab who want to drag the Druze, after arming them, into a confrontation with the revolution and members of other sects,” Jumblatt added. The PSP leader said that such a scheme serves the interest of the Syrian regime as well as its attempts to foment strife in Syria to reduce the pressure of the ongoing uprising and stop its advance on all levels. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least five people were killed in the car bomb attack targeting Jaramana Monday. At least 27 people were killed in the same southeastern suburb in another car bombing on Aug. 28, which targeted participants in a funeral for two supporters of the Damascus regime. “Let all honorable and patriotic people be careful not to fall into this well-planned trap,” Jumblatt said. The Chouf MP said that the Syrian revolution would not give way at any expense, adding that the awareness of the Syrian people is sufficient to undermine all of the regime’s suspicious plans and avoid additional fighting and bloodshed. Jumblatt said that with each passing day, the “suspicious” shifting of international, regional, U.S. and Russian stances regarding the Syrian crisis is becoming clearer. “When Russia’s Foreign Minister [Sergei Lavrov] says that the army will remain in cities, this means additional destruction in cities,” he said. “When the U.S. army chief of staff [Raymond T. Odierno] announces that his administration rejects establishing a no-fly zone [in Syria] ... this confirms the suspicious [shifting of stances] for which the Syrian people are paying in the end.” (daily star) pe