Jumblatt, Druze Clergy at Odds over Syria

Eternal Lebanese political weathervane Walid Jumblatt has been denouncing Syria lately, and supporting the uprising. As this piece in Al-Akhbar notes, however, that isn't selling well to the Druze elders in Lebanon, who are determined to stay out of Syrian internal affairs. The Druze clergy appear to be at odds with their hereditary feudal lord/Socialist politician leader, in part out of concern for the Druze in Syria.

Though the Syrians were most likely behind his father's assassination, he was long a staunch defender of Damascus, though he also went through an anti-Syrian  period when he became the only member in good-standing of the Socialist International to be feted by US right-wing think tanks like the Heritage Foundation and the American Enterprise Institute. After another round of pro-Syrian alignment, he's now firmly (for now) on the side of the uprising.