Walid Jumblatt (born August 7, 1949), is the current leader of the Progressive Socialist Party of Lebanon and the most prominent leader of the Druze community.
Walid Jumblatt is the son of Kamal Jumblatt, the founder of the party Walid Jumblatt now leads. Before his ascension to power following his father's assassination, he was considered to be a "playboy," wearing jeans and a leather jacket, riding a motorcycle and marrying a non-Druze, Jordanian woman.
He quickly proved however a true leader of his community, and became a major player in the Lebanese War. During the Israeli occupation of and subsequent withdrawal from Lebanon in 1982 and 1983, Jumblatt's militia, backed by Soviet-made weaponry from Syria, crushed the Christian militias that were threatening Druze villages, securing a Druze victory and solidifying his position as leader of the Druze.
The BBC describes Jumblatt as "being seen by many as the country's political weathervane." [1] He has a successful record of changing allegiances to ensure that the sectarian interests of the Druze emerge on the winning side of the political issues and conflicts shaping Lebanon, from the turmoil of the 1975-90 civil war to Lebanon's reconstruction. Like several other sectarian leaders, he was a supporter of the Syrian presence (described as an occupation by some anti-Syrian elements) in Lebanon after the civil war but, after the death of former Syrian president Hafez al-Assad in 2000, he has campaigned for the end of Syrian influence in Lebanon.
After the assassination of Rafik Hariri in 2005, Jumblatt alleged that a shaken Hariri had told him months before that he was personally threatened by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a 15-minute meeting in the Syrian capital Damascus in August 2004: "[President of Lebanon] Lahoud is me. ... If you and Chirac want me out of Lebanon, I will break Lebanon."[2]. Jumblatt said "When I heard him telling us those words, I knew that it was his condemnation of death." His comments have been included in the FitzGerald Report, the United Nations's report on the investigation of the Hariri assassination. The report criticizes Syria for the political tensions which preceded the assassination. The United States, the EU and the UN demanded a Syrian pullout from Lebanon and an international investigation.
Jumblatt has publicly spoken of his fear of being assassinated, like Hariri, because of his current stance towards Damascus.
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