Progressive Socialist Party leader ex-MP Walid Jumblatt has called on Lebanese President Michel Aoun to put limits to the “childish behavior” of his son-in-law, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil.
The Druze leader’s comments came at a time when Lebanese leaders were still struggling to contain the repercussions of Sunday’s clashes in the Aley region of the Shouf mountains, where two bodyguards of Minister of State for Displaced Affairs Saleh al-Gharib, a Druze minister who is close to Hezbollah and the Syrian regime, were killed after his convoy came under fire.
Following an extraordinary session of the Druze Community Council held Wednesday in Beirut, under the chairmanship of Druze Sheikh Naiim Hassan, Jumblatt lashed out at the raids launched to arrest suspects involved in the clashes.
He also replied to Defense Minister Elias Bou Saad, who said that what happened in the mountains was an ambush.
“Bassil’s provocative rhetoric has led to the escalation,” Jumblatt said.
For his part, Speaker Nabih Berri stressed on Wednesday that the Mountain has its own particularity.
“What is happening cannot be dealt with by means of politics alone, or security alone or the judiciary alone. It should be addressed interdependently,” Berri was quoted as saying at his weekly meeting with deputies.
Meanwhile, several meetings were held to contain the repercussions of the clashes.
Bou Saab met with head of the Lebanese Democratic Party MP Talal Arslan and Gharib to discuss the latest security developments in the village of Qabrshmoun.
For his part, Jumblatt received at his Beirut residence General Security Chief Abbas Ibrahim before meeting Prime Minister Saad Hariri, upon the invitation of Berri.
The Jumblatt-Hariri meeting aimed to mend shaky relations between the Mustaqbal Movement and the PSP.
