MP Jumblatt: Abductions and counter-abductions are neither acceptable nor justifiable

Progressive Socialist Party Leader MP Walid Jumblatt denounced on Monday the kidnapping of the Turkish pilot and co-pilot saying that "abductions and counter-abductions are never justifiable nor are they acceptable."           

Through his party’s weekly publication, Al-Anbaa, MP Jumblatt said that failure to address previous kidnapping incidents as well as the attacks against Lebanese Armed Forces in the region of Arsal led to the further deterioration of the security situation across the country.                       

"The judiciary's failure to properly address the aforementioned files, ending investigations, and pursuing aggressors, are the main reasons behind this situation," MP Jumblatt said.                      

As for the file of the Lebanese detainees in Syria's Aazaz, MP Jumblatt described the failure to release them as a contrasting incident to the successful release of 40 Iranians who were held in Syria and then shortly released after proper negotiations.                        

On another note, MP Jumblatt said the absence of a political solution with respect to the Syrian crisis, due to the Russian-American disputes, is transforming Syria into a "sphere of influence".            

Jumblatt added that the political solution should call for pursuing those who were behind massacres, stressing that it should also protect "what is left of Syria's institutions" since the current situation threatens the country's unity and the future of the entire region.