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Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt said that Lebanon does not even have a modicum of sovereignty over its borders. He made these remarks in an interview with LBC TV (Lebanon) that aired on February 22, 2021. Jumblatt said that while Lebanon was under Syrian control, at least it was a satellite state, but now it is not even that, it is only remnants of a state. He asked whether Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah considers Lebanon to be an Iranian satellite like the Houthis in Yemen or the Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia in Iraq.
Walid Jumblatt: "The [ammonium nitrate] was brought to Beirut and was used for the barrel bombs which were dropped from airplanes on Syrian cities and villages. The [ammonium nitrate] replaced the chemical weapons which were pulled out of Syria in 2014, following the Obama-Putin agreement.
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"As much as I love him, Hassan Nasrallah cannot dictate to us – like he did in his speech at the beginning of last week ... He said that we should move on from the investigation [of the Beirut port blast] to [talk about] the compensation. It is as if he destroyed Beirut and there were victims, but now we should refer it to the insurance company. This isn't nice. This is inappropriate and immoral on Nasrallah's part. This is just a piece of advice."
Interviewer: "Is an international court an option?"
Jumblatt: "An international court is an option, but at the same time, the Lebanese judiciary must not face threats and cannot operate under anyone's control. It is inconceivable that we destroy the Lebanese judiciary for the sake of some people's political interests. The question is this: Do they recognize the Lebanese political entity, or has it become a mere geographical territory for the missiles of Iran? This is the more important question.
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"We legislate laws at the parliament with Speaker Berri, but these laws cannot be implemented. We do not have a modicum of sovereignty at the borders, at the [Beirut] port, or at the Masnaa border crossing. We have nothing. Who are we kidding?
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"In the days of [the Syrian control] we were a satellite state, but at least we were a state. Today, there is no state. What we have is remnants of a state.
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"Maybe Hassan Nasrallah is watching us, so I ask him: do you recognize the remnants of the Lebanese entity? Or maybe there is no Lebanese entity, and it is nothing but a satellite of the Iranian empire. That's the question. Are we like the Houthis here in Lebanon? Are we like Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq in Iraq? Give us an answer."
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