BEIRUT: Progressive Socialist Party chief Walid Jumblatt Friday blasted Syrian President Bashar Assad, saying that Daesh (ISIS) was Assad’s primary ally after the group attacked a Druze-majority area in Syria Wednesday, killing roughly 200 people.
Jumblatt, the primary representative of Lebanon’s Druze community, said Assad would use the attack in the provincial capital of Swaida earlier this week to enlist Druze in to fight Syria’s next major battle. This battle, Jumblatt said, will be over the last rebel holdout - Idlib province.
“We refuse to sacrifice the people of the Jabal Arab [region] in the battle for Idlib,” Jumblatt said at a memorial held for the victims in Abay in Aley.
“We want a guarantee that the Druze will remain in the Jabal al-Arab [region] and that Bashar won’t use them for his personal gain,” he added.