Lebanese MP discussed Syria’s Druze during Moscow visit

By Wassim Saif al-Din

BEIRUT

Teymour Jumblatt, the son of prominent Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, said Monday that he had discussed the “dangerous” situation of Syria’s Druze community with Russian officials during a recent visit to Moscow.

Jumblatt, a member of the Lebanese parliament, visited Moscow on Saturday at the head of a delegation from Lebanon’s Progressive Socialist Party (of which his father is the leader).

The visit came shortly after dozens of Druze were killed in southwestern Syria’s predominantly Druze city of Al-Swaida in a series of bombings later claimed by the Daesh terrorist group.

Following the attacks, the younger Jumblatt had accused the Syrian regime of complicity in the deadly bombings.

In a Monday statement released by his office following his return from Moscow, Jumblatt said that, during his meetings with Russian officials, he had discussed ways of “protecting Syria’s Druze” from the machinations of the Assad regime.

“We have seen the heinous crimes committed by Daesh, which were facilitated -- or directed -- by the Syrian regime, which hopes to coerce them [i.e., Syria’s Druze] into joining its schemes,” the statement read.