Word: jumblatt
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Dates: during 2005-2005
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Transforming that political culture begins with the liberation of Iraq. Not just replacing a murderous thug regime with a popularly elected, pluralistic government but also creating a catalyst for similar transformations elsewhere. We have already seen such an effect in Lebanon--a democratic uprising that even Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, no friend of the U.S., admitted was a domino effect from Iraq. Similarly, Iraq's transformation has helped advance women's suffrage in Kuwait, competitive elections in Egypt and even democratic stirrings in so inhospitable a place as Syria...
...thought that he is responsible for the death of their historic leader?" asks Chibli Mallat, professor of international law at St. Joseph University in Beirut. And as this stalemate deepens, Lebanese fear that another assassin's bomb will be used to try to break it. Walid Jumblatt, leader of Lebanon's Druze sect and a senior opposition figure, thinks he could be one target. In a television interview he called on his followers to "behave calmly and peacefully" should he be assassinated. "This is my last will and testament," said Jumblatt, who rarely leaves his heavily guarded home south...
...explosion of renewed violence in Lebanon. Flying cover for a routine patrol in the Bekaa Valley, Israeli F-15s shot down two threatening Syrian MiG-23Ss over Syrian territory. In West Beirut, tanks and rockets were being used in the bitter fighting between the Druze militia of Walid Jumblatt's Progressive Socialist Party and its erstwhile ally, the Shi'ite Amal militia, headed by Nabih Berri. By Friday, police estimated that 44 people had been killed and 200 wounded...
...from eight operations after surviving the attempt on his life, told TIME. Hariri worked secretly behind the scenes to forge a powerful alliance opposed to Lahoud and the Syrians. The so-called Bristol Gathering brought together Christian, Druze and Sunni leaders. "He was the pillar of the opposition," says Jumblatt. On Jan. 29, Hariri met with his two main political allies, Basil Fleihan, a Protestant who was his closest economic adviser, and Dr. Ghattas Khoury, a Maronite Christian surgeon. Says Khoury: "After that meeting, we were vocal about our opposition to the Syrians. Rafiq Hariri would not anymore go fifty...
Hariri's swelling defiance made him a target. He avoided the telephone, holding important conversations in secure sites like his garden or the bathroom. "He knew that there was a price in confronting Syria, but he was willing to pay it," says a former Hariri adviser. Hariri jokingly asked Jumblatt, "Who will be assassinated first, you or me?" Still, he shrugged off warnings that he might be killed, claiming to have U.S., French and Saudi assurances for his safety. On Feb. 10, Terje Roed-Larsen, the U.N. envoy overseeing Resolution 1559's implementation, met Assad in Damascus. According to people...