Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt: Bashar the Terrorist Has Brought Lahoud to Power, and the Proud Lebanese People Will Get Rid of Him

Following are excerpts from a speech given by Lebanese Druze Leader Walid Jumblatt, aired on Future TV on February 14, 2006.

Walid Jumblatt: We have come... We have come to say to you, the ruler of Damascus, the tyrant of Syria, and to your friends and allies, that we are not an "insignificant minority," or a" fictitious majority." You yourself are an insignificant, criminal, and hostile minority. [Your allies] assume a fictitious holiness, but nothing is holy except the homeland – Lebanon.

We have come here to say: While forgetting is impossible, forgiving is impossible, impossible, impossible!

Do you remember, Abu Bahaa [Al-Hariri]... When you were killed a year ago, do you remember what Beirut said? Yes, it was Beirut that said: "Oh Beirut, we want blood vengeance from Lahoud and Bashar." "Oh Beirut, we want blood vengeance from Lahoud and Bashar."

Oh ruler of Damascus, it is you who are the slave, and we are free.

[...]

We have come here to say that there can be no real independence and sovereignty without the implementation of the international resolutions. We reject the pretext of the Shab'a Farms, we reject the Syrian-Iranian axis, we reject the seizing of the homeland at the expense of its aspirations of liberty and independence. Instead of the Shab'a Farms, let us liberate the "Ba'abda Farm."

We have here come to say that there can be no real independence and sovereignty while the borders are wide open to convoys of weapons, terrorists, and mercenaries. We have come here to say that there can be no real independence and sovereignty, as long as the symbol of collaboration with the Syrian regime [i.e. Lahoud] remains at Ba'abda Palace. We say to him: Bashar the terrorist has brought you [to power], and the proud Lebanese people will get rid of you.