BEIRUT, Lebanon, June 13 (UPI) -- A Lebanese newspaper Monday said Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt warned the election victory of former army chief Michel Aoun could lead to civil war.
Al-Mustaqbal daily quoted Jumblatt, who heads the Socialist Progressive Party, as saying the victory of Aoun and his allies in the Christian seats in Mount Lebanon in the third round of legislative elections Sunday was a defeat for Christian moderates.
He told the paper, owned by the family of slain former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the defeat of the Christian moderates took the country back to 1976 "when the Syrians came in to protect the Christians and destroyed Lebanon" by setting off as civil war
Jumblatt, whose alliance also swept to victory in parts of Mount Lebanon, added that Syrian President Bashar Assad and Lebanese President Emile Lahoud were "clever for bringing in Michel Aoun to bring tension on the ground in the face Hezbollah and to tell the Americans they can control the situation" in Lebanon.
