Jumblatt Says Aoun is Irrational Ruler Who Wants to Commit Suicide

 FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
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Jumblatt Says Aoun is Irrational Ruler Who Wants to Commit Suicide

 FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: PSP leader Walid Jumblatt leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris following a meeting with French President Francois Hollande, February 21, 2017. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/File Photo

Head of the Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) Walid Jumblatt described Lebanese President Michel Aoun as an "irrational ruler who wants to commit suicide.”

"Let him commit suicide alone, along with his dear son-in-law,” Jumblatt said in a TV statement, in reference to former Minister and MP Gebran Bassil.

His remarks came on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

“Despite the severity of the circumstance, we must derive strength from the occasion. We have continued to some extent, and others must continue in the country of universities, diversity and civilized coexistence,” he noted.

Jumblatt further underlined the need for “a new political formula, as we cannot continue with the old one.”

“Today there is a destructive ruler and an absurd rule.”

Touching on the obstacles hindering the formation of a new government, he told Future TV that Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri devised a formula that suits all components but rejected to grant the “vetoing third” to the president.

“Enough with this vetoing-third that impeded the country for 15 years!” Jumblatt added.

The PSP leader emphasized the need for “a constitutional way to resolve the current impasse.”

He reminded that French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the need to implement reforms in exchange for help from the international community.

“We missed the opportunity,” Jumblatt said.



Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
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Switzerland Lifts Economic Sanctions on Syria

A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the Syrian central bank, after the ousting of Syria's Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, December 16, 2024. (Reuters)

Switzerland said on Friday it will lift a raft of economic sanctions imposed on Syria, including the Middle Eastern country's central bank.

After the toppling of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, targeted sanctions against individuals and entities linked to the former government will still remain in place, Switzerland's governing Federal Council said.

"The aim of this decision is to promote the country's economic recovery and an inclusive and peaceful political transition," the council said in a statement.

After an initial easing of sanctions in March, Switzerland is now lifting restrictions on the provision of certain financial services, trade in precious metals and the export of luxury goods, the government said.

Some 24 entities including the central bank of Syria have also been removed from the sanctions list, it added.

The announcement follows the EU's decision to lift its economic sanctions on Syria at the end of May after a similar move by the US Treasury Department in the same month.