Walid Junblatt: A leader of shifting stances

Beirut :  A shrewd politician known for his shifting loyalties, Walid Junblatt walked out of the Western-backed coalition last year and said he will take a neutral stance in Lebanese politics.

Also in 2009, Junblatt reconciled with Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah. Nasrallah is said to be working for reconciliation between Junblatt and Syria. Jumblatt was the main force behind the creation of a Western-backed alliance that led massive street protests to demand the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon following former premier Rafik Hariri's assassination.

A longtime leftist and a one-time close Syrian ally, Junblatt shifted after Hariri's assassination to the Western-backed camp after being a main beneficiary of Syrian goodwill when Damascus had the final say in Lebanese affairs for close to 30 years.

Since the 2005 break with Damascus, however, he became a staunch critic of Syria in Lebanon, calling for the overthrow of Bashar Al Assad's regime and blaming Syria for the 1977 killing of his father. Tensions between Junlatt's Druze followers and his allies on one side and Nasrallah's Shiite militia erupted in street fighting in Beirut in May 2008, killing 81 people and nearly plunging Lebanon into another civil war. Junblatt has since moderated his anti-Syria rhetoric.