AA / Istanbul
Druze leader Walid Jumblatt arrived this Sunday in the Syrian capital Damascus, Lebanese media reported.
This is the first visit by a prominent Lebanese figure after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime.
The Lebanese newspaper “An-Nahar” (private) reported that the former head of the Progressive Socialist Party Walid Jumblatt arrived on Sunday at the People's Palace in Damascus, at the head of a Lebanese delegation, to meet the head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTC), Ahmed al-Charaa.
This meeting is the first between a Lebanese official and al-Charaa since the fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime on December 8, according to the newspaper.
Jumblatt, who is going to Syria after 13 years, is accompanied by members of the Progressive Socialist Party and Sheikh Akl, Sami Aboul Mouna, a Druze spiritual leader.
On Thursday, Jumblatt announced he would travel to Damascus, during an online meeting with representatives of the Council on Arab-American Relations, during which he said that “stability in Syria is necessary for stability in Lebanon”, and that Syria “needs opportunities and help”.
On December 12, Jumblatt had a telephone conversation with al-Sharaa, congratulating him and the Syrian people on the “victory over the oppressive regime.” He is the first high-profile Lebanese figure to contact al-Sharaa to congratulate him on the overthrow of the Assad regime, and the first to visit Damascus.
Note that Kamal Jumblatt, father of Walid Jumblatt, was one of the most notorious opponents of Syrian intervention during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), and had strongly criticized the Syrian regime led at the time by late President Hafez al-Assad.
Kamal Jumblatt was assassinated in 1977, under mysterious circumstances. The Syrian regime was accused of carrying out this assassination in response to Jumblatt's positions.
As a reminder, the armed forces opposed to the regime of Bashar al-Assad launched an offensive on November 27 which ended with the fall of the capital Damascus on December 8 and the overthrow of the Baath regime in power in the country for 61 years.
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