Al Akhbar: Jumblatt reshuffled his cards when disappointed by Assad

Al Akhbar daily reported that every time the Head of the National Struggle Front MP Walid Jumbaltt reshuffles his cards and changes his alliance, one party rejoices while the other voices dismay. The newspaper added that all parties want to align with him, while he only wants to align with himself and the people of his sect.

The daily noted that in the past his fears pushed him to reconcile with Hezbollah and Syria at a very high price, while today he seems prepared to close the door on both  of them with no hesitation.    

According to Al Akhbar, less than a year after Jumblatt had set his mind on apologizing to Syria for the accusations and verbal assaults, he decided to go back on his decision. The daily added that up till June 9, Jumblatt had visited Syria nine times and met with President Bashar Assad six times. During their last meeting, the clashes between the Syrian forces and the opposition were escalating and Assad spoke to Jumblatt about the reforms plan, his position as to the opposition and armed assaults targeting the army and the police.

The local newspaper added that, the Druze leader confided in Assad the reasons why he is troubled by the events shaking Syria and at his arrival in Beirut, Jumblatt described Assad's response as “extremely” negative.

According to the newspaper, since his last visit to Damascus, Jumblatt realized that the Syrian regime and he are no longer seeing eye to eye.  

Al Akhbar also revealed that during the last meeting between Jumblatt and Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah on October 13, the contradiction in points of view was apparent. Jumblatt advised Sayyed Nasrallah not to bet on Assad’s survival because his fall is imminent and is bound to happen in two months at most.