Derian and Sunni religious leaders visit Joumblatt

BEIRUT — Former leader of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP), Walid Joumblatt, on Monday received the grand mufti of the Republic, Sheikh Abdel Latif Derian, who was accompanied by a delegation from Dar al-Fatwa at his home in Beirut's Clemenceau district.

The head of the Lebanese Democratic Party, Talal Arslane, and other Sunni muftis from Lebanese regions were also present at the meeting, after which Sheikh Derian stated that it was "friendly and constructive" and that others would follow, according to the state-run National News Agency (NNA.)

This meeting between the Druze leader and the highest representative of Sunni Islam in Lebanon comes amid recent sectarian tensions that have led to clashes between Druze factions and Sunni Bedouin tribes, backed by forces of the Damascus government, which left more than 1,200 people dead in a week in the Sweida region of southern Syria.

This latest episode of sectarian violence in the neighboring country had raised fears that these tensions could spill over into Lebanon.

In a joint statement issued following their meeting, the participants reaffirmed their commitment to “national and Islamic unity in the face of those who seek to harm Lebanon and sisterly Syria,” and rejected “any attempt to sow discord.”

They condemned the “bloody clashes between Syrian brothers in the Sweida region,” calling them “unacceptable and deplorable,” and expressed sorrow for “the martyrs who fell during these painful events.”

The signatories called on “all Lebanese forces to work toward strengthening the state, its people, and its institutions, to unite in efforts to revive the state so that it can fully fulfill its unifying role, and to come together in confronting the Zionist aggression that targets Lebanon, Syria, and other Arab countries, in pursuit of its hostile goals and sectarian, ethnic, and confessional agendas, which serve only the enemies of our countries, societies, and Arab and Islamic nation.”

They also praised the “wise and patriotic positions of all Lebanese parties that have called for Syrian unity, the prevention of internal conflict, and the preservation of Syria’s territorial integrity, with the same concern they express for Lebanon — its people, state, and institutions.”

Finally, the statement emphasized the importance of “Lebanon’s sovereignty, freedom, Arab identity, and independence, as well as its cooperation with all fellow Arab nations and friendly states committed to Lebanon, its people, and its civilizational role in the region.”