Jumblatt warns of 'falling into Syrian regime's traps'

Progressive Socialist Party leader, Walid Jumblatt, demanded Monday that the Lebanese pilgrims who were kidnapped in Syria Tuesday be returned to Lebanon, urging all sides to "exercise restraint". He warned, in his weekly editorial in the PSP-affiliated al-Anbaa newspaper of "falling into the Syrian regime’s traps", should any of the supporters of the victims seek revenge against the abduction. Jumblatt said: "I call on all the Syrian people to thwart the regime’s plans to spark sectarian strife". He added: "The Syrian people have so far succeeded in evading the regime’s traps, starting with that of igniting strife". Jumblatt urged the residents of Syria’s Jabal al-Arab, and all Syrian people, to be diligent "now more than ever," and be wary of the "serious threats" being planned by the regime. "In the past, the Syrian people succeeded in defeating foreign oppression by remaining faithful to their Arabism," the Druze leader remarked. "Any attempt to add a sectarian characteristic to the revolution, will serve as a crushing blow to all the people’s sacrifices,” he added.