Lebanese politician Jumblatt reaffirms his anti-Syria stance

In a ceremony to mark the 35th anniversary of the assassination of his father Kamal Jumblatt, he placed the flag of the Syrian rebels on his father’s grave.

Senior figures from the March 14 Alliance, the Lebanese political group which has a long standing feud with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, attended the ceremony.

Jumblatt has made many changes in his stance toward Assad over the past years. He visited Damascus in May 2010 after a period of extreme enmity during his affiliation with the March 14 Alliance.

He has steadily moved towards the Syrian armed rebels since the crisis in Syria began about a year ago.

He also called on the Druze community in Syria, which has around 700,000 members, to turn against the leadership in Damascus. However, the Syrian Druze and other minorities have been reluctant to take such a step.