Former Syrian Vice President Abdul-Halim Khaddam pointed out that “the figures who remained with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are of the second and third ranks,” noting that “the late leader Kamal Jumblatt spoke with the late Syrian President Hafez al-Assad for 6 hours to reach an agreement to stop the Lebanese civil war. However, the result of the discussion was without an agreement,” saying, “If Syria had agreed to Jumblatt’s request for weapons supply, Israel would have intervened in the Lebanese civil war.” He confirmed that “Syria feared Israel’s movements in Lebanon, considering Lebanon as the soft underbelly towards Damascus,” stating that “Kamal Jumblatt was a friend to Syria and a patriotic man. When the civil war broke out in Lebanon, we decided to extinguish and end the war because its continuation would lead to Israel’s intervention, as many Lebanese were besieged by national forces, and they had no choice but to seek help from Western countries or Israel.”
In exclusive statements to the Saudi newspaper “Okaz,” he added, “It was not in our interest to see Lebanon dismantled, and we had no ambitions or aspirations for it or to achieve unity with it. We think about unity with Mauritania before Lebanon because we know that its conditions are complicated, and we should not be dragged into a decision that further complicates the situation in the region,” pointing out that “all the governments formed in Lebanon were friendly to Syria, and consequently, all political issues related to security are discussed between the leadership of the Syrian army in Lebanon and the Lebanese military authorities.” He also mentioned that “relations related to security policy and public policy are discussed through discussions between us, the Lebanese president, and the Lebanese prime minister. Therefore, Lebanon’s foreign policy is in line with Syrian foreign policy. When an Arab conference or meeting is held, Lebanon directly adopts the Syrian stance. This has been the reality.”
Khaddam also rejected “any accusations against him regarding supporting normalization with Israel,” considering that “anyone who speaks on this matter is either crazy or does not know Abdul-Halim Khaddam’s history in Syrian foreign policy.”
